By Kyiv Post

Copyright kyivpost

The African edition of Business Insider reported on Monday that the Kenyan government was investigating reports that some of its citizens had been forced to serve in Russia’s war against Ukraine after a 36-year-old athlete was captured by Ukrainian forces near Vovchansk.

The report says that Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Korir Sing-Oei said that Foreign Ministry personnel were working through its embassy in Moscow and Ukraine’s ministry to investigate Kibet’s claims. He said Nairobi was “Closely monitoring information regarding three or four Kenyans allegedly transferred to Russia and currently held by Ukraine as prisoners of war.”

Troops from Ukraine’s 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade captured the Kenyan, 36-year-old Evans Kibet, a former track and field athlete who was hiding in the woods near the city in the Kharkiv region.

According to the report Kibet says he and three other Kenyans had traveled to Saint Petersburg, on a two-week tour, but had overstayed their visas when their tour guide offered to find them work.

Speaking on video footage published on the UNIAN Telegram channel he told his captors that he was handed documents in Russian – which he didn’t understand – but was persuaded to sign. A few days later he had his passport and mobile phone taken and was driven to a military camp where he was told that having signed the papers, he had no option but to serve – or he would be shot.

“I joined the Russian military not knowing I was being recruited. I have never been in the military, and I have never wanted a military job,” Kibet says on the video.

He said that after only a week of basic training – which largely concentrated on weapons training, mainly conducted by sign language as neither he, his instructors, nor several other foreign conscripts shared a common language – he was sent to the front line in Ukraine.

Kibet says he escaped after being sent on his first combat mission by fleeing into the forest and removing his uniform. After wandering through the woods for two days he came across a Ukrainian patrol and surrendered.

He said that the Ukrainian troops treated him well feeding and sheltering him – saying he was an addition to Ukraine’s “exchange fund” to secure the release of Kyiv prisoners of war but he begged not to be returned to Russia as he feared he would be killed.

Human rights organizations have previously highlighted the threat to foreign visitors and workers being tricked into fighting for Russia. The Moscow Times reported in January that Indian authorities had demanded the release of more than 100 Indian citizens serving with Russian armed forces on the front line in Ukraine – several of whom had been killed.

According to reports in local Kenyan news sites his family was unaware that he had ended up fighting for Moscow on the battlefield, and said they thought he had gone to Russia to participate in a race meeting.