Kenya’s foreign minister flies to Moscow to halt the forced conscription of its citizens into the Russian army and secure their safe return from Ukraine.

NAIROBI: Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi has flown to Moscow in a high-stakes diplomatic mission to halt the Russian army’s forced conscription of Kenyan citizens to fight in Ukraine.

Mudavadi is scheduled to meet his Kremlin counterpart Sergey Lavrov and other senior Russian government officials on Monday and Tuesday to address the crisis.

The minister’s primary objective is to secure the safe repatriation of Kenyans currently stranded in Russia after being lured there with promises of well-paid civilian jobs.

Kenyan intelligence services estimate that more than 1,000 of its citizens have been recruited, often with limited training, and sent to the front line in Ukraine according to a report seen by AFP.

Mudavadi will also seek to negotiate a bilateral agreement to facilitate easier and safer access for Kenyans to the Russian job market during his talks.

A foreign ministry statement said the engagement is focused on a “broad coordinated government action to protect Kenyans abroad” and ensure they work in safe environments.

The statement added that talks will address the situation of Kenyans “who may have been voluntarily or involuntarily drafted in the Russian military”.

Mudavadi’s deputy Abraham Korir Sing’Oei has previously denounced Russia’s “unacceptable” use of Kenyans as “cannon fodder”, causing an uproar in the east African nation.

In a similar case, South Africa successfully secured the repatriation of 15 of its citizens from the Donbas region in late February after they were allegedly deceived into fighting.

 The Sun Malaysia