Four South African men, reportedly lured into fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine’s Donbas region, have returned home after being trapped there, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported.
Police met the men at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport upon their Wednesday arrival.
They belong to a larger group of 17 who sent distress calls to the South African government in November.
The predicament of the trapped men prompted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.
Ramaphosa’s office subsequently confirmed that both leaders had “pledged their support to the process of returning South Africans fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.”
Neither a police spokesperson nor South Africa’s foreign ministry offered comment on the situation. The Russian embassy in Pretoria also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson told Reuters: “I’m not able to confirm that except to say that the process to secure the return of the men is ongoing as discussed by both President Ramaphosa and President Putin.”
Under South African law, it is illegal for citizens to provide military assistance to foreign governments or participate in foreign armies unless authorised by South Africa.
Much of the Donbas region is controlled by Russian forces and fighting has been heavy there since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
South Africa seeks to project itself as non-aligned on the war, while maintaining warm relations with Moscow as a fellow member of the BRICS group of emerging economies.
India, Nepal and Sri Lanka are among other countries that have said scores of their citizens were recruited under false pretences to join Russia’s war effort.
Kenya’s foreign ministry said last week it had rescued 27 Kenyans who were stranded in Russia after they were illegally enlisted to fight in Ukraine.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said he was planning to visit Russia to speak directly with the government to try to stop Kenyans becoming “recruits for war.”
