President William Ruto and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in Moscow on Thursday to stop the recruitment of Kenyans into the Russian military, State House said. Kenya will be designated a non-source country for Russian military recruitment. The leaders reached the deal in bilateral talks after the Third Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum ended, The Eastleigh Voice reported.
Ruto said he had told Putin that he had appointed a Defence Attaché at the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow. The attaché will work with the Russian Ministry of Defence to repatriate Kenyans who travelled to Russia for military purposes. The official will also help arrange compensation for affected Kenyans and coordinate their safe return home.
The deal follows months of warnings from Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, the Daily Nation reported. In April he said at least 252 Kenyans had been recruited into Russian military operations, many through illegal networks. On October 9 he told a joint sitting of Senate committees that the government had documented 354 Kenyans linked to the conflict. Of these, 84 were reported killed or missing in action, 62 had been repatriated and five were prisoners of war in Ukraine. Mudavadi also said Russia had indicated it could not cover the cost of repatriating the remains of Kenyans who died.
The Nation noted that the deal's effect will depend on how it is implemented. It will also depend on stopping recruiters who work through intermediaries, private agencies and third countries. The paper said families still searching for relatives at the front have no clear answers yet.
The talks also covered trade. Ruto said the trade balance currently favours Russia. He said Kenya wants to sell more tea and flowers to the Russian market. He also invited Russian investors to look at opportunities under Kenya's proposed National Infrastructure Fund. Ruto noted that Russia was the second country to recognise Kenya's independence in 1963.
Putin said Russia is one of the top fertiliser exporters to Kenya and that this trend should continue. According to The Eastleigh Voice, he announced that Russian government scholarships for Kenyan students will rise from 70 to 300 a year. The visit ended with the signing of five memorandums of understanding covering economic cooperation, employment, transport and diplomacy.