From a hospital bed deep inside Russia, a gravely wounded Kenyan father is calling on the government to help him return back home.
In an exclusive interview on Breakfast 47 with Alex Mwakideu and Emmanuel Mwashumbe Jackton not his real name is issuing a chilling warning: The “dream jobs” in Russia are a deadly trap leading straight to the bloody front lines of the Ukraine war.
Jackton has described how desperation for work turned into a living hell. “I left Kenya looking for work. There’s no work back home,” he began.
It all started with a random street encounter in Nairobi. “Ni mtu tu nilikutana naye kwa streets. Akaniambia yeye ni agent anapeleka watu Russia,” he said.
Convinced by tales of high-paying jobs, Jackton started the journey to a ‘brighter future.’ After several days of discussions with an agent by the name Edward, Jackton was ready to go. Together with other young Kenyan men boarded a flight with no real contracts or details. The deception hit hard the moment they landed. “Tuliposafiri na kufika airport, straight away tuliingizwa kwa gari ya jeshi,” he recalled.
In Russia, they were forced to sign documents they couldn’t understand because they were written in Russian. “Tulikuwa hatuelewi chochote. Walikuwa wanatuongelesha Kirusi, sisi Kiingereza.Tulitishiwa tukisaini,” he narrated.
Just three weeks of hasty training later, Jackton found himself in the thick of combat. “Niliingia front line mwisho wa September nikakaa mwezi mzima,” he said in the interview. Life on the battlefield was brutal survival in the wild. “Hakuna chochote. Tunaishi kwa handaki,” he said. Under Russian commanders and reliant on translators, the Kenyans face constant death.
According to Jacton, when they arrived he counted almost 200 Kenyan men fighting the the Russian-Ukraine, but now he says almsot all of them have died and the worst part is their bodies are left in the forest to rot.
“Hali inaendelea kuwa mbaya. Kama 99% ya Wakenya wale walikuwa vitani wameuliwa. Wakikufa, mili inaachwa tu msituni,” he narrates.
The promised Ksh 210,000 monthly salary evaporated into lies. Jackton says he now receives a salary of only Ksh 40, 000 “Vitani nilikuwa nalipwa 150,000. Saa hizi nalipwa 40,000.” he says.
The father of two now fears he might not come home or see his family again. He said the Russians threaten them whatever they ask questions about returning home telling them they have a contract to honor. “Warusi wanatuambia hakuna kurudi kwa sababu ya contract.”
Now scarred by gunshot wounds to his stomach and private parts, Jackton thinks constantly of his wife and two children back in Kitale.
“Wanajua hali yangu. Niliwaambia kile kinaendelea na maisha yangu.”
Jackton is calling on Kenyans not to be lurred with jobs in Moscow “Hakuna. Kila Mkenya anataka kurudi nyumbani.”
Despite the horrors, more Kenyans keep arriving. “Kama wanaweza kuwazuia Wakenya wasiendelea kuja.”
This even as the government says it has successfully repatriated 18 Kenyans who were deceived by rogue agents into joining Russia’s military and sent to fight in Ukraine.
In a statement Foreign Affais Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi says many arrived seeking promised jobs, only to be coerced into signing Russian contracts and deployed to dangerous front lines, some sustaining serious injuries like fractured limbs, gunshot wounds, and pneumothorax.
Through relentless diplomacy by the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow, the 18 were located some in hospitals, others in military camps issued emergency travel documents, and flown home between August and early December 2025.
The government is now providing psycho-social counselling and reintegration support to the returnees while negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to free any remaining Kenyans.
The Government has warned job-seekers to verify overseas offers through official channels to avoid falling victim to these deadly recruitment scams.
