Madar (Accra) - Russia has agreed to stop recruiting Ghanaian nationals to fight in the war in Ukraine, Ghana said in a statement, Africanews reported on Monday, November 2, 2026.
According to the report, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the assurance on the sidelines of last week's Russia-Africa summit in Moscow after his Ghanaian counterpart John Mahama raised the issue. Putin said he would ban Ghanaians from taking part, whether through irregular recruitment or voluntary enlistment.
Ghana had said its citizens were being "tricked" into joining the Russian war effort and urged Moscow to do more to halt the practice. As of mid-August, more than 270 Ghanaians had fought for Russia, at least 62 had been killed and 15 were missing.
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow in August and welcomed the Russian government's pledge to work with Accra to stop the illegal enlistment of Ghanaian youth, Prime Business Africa reported on August 18.
Several other African countries, including Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon and The Gambia, have complained that their citizens were lured to fight under false promises of work or education. Last week, Ukrainian officials reported that a Botswanan citizen recruited through social media had been killed in the Luhansk region.
