Kenyan police arrest man accused of recruiting fighters for Russia's war in Ukraine

Festus Omwamba sits inside the dock at Kahawa Law Courts in Kiambu on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Police in Kenya have arrested a man named in an alleged scheme that duped Kenyans with promises of skilled work in Russia, only for them to end up on the front lines of the fighting in Ukraine.

Festus Omwamba was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in the northern Kenyan town of Moyale, near the border with Ethiopia. He was charged Thursday in an antiterror court in the capital, Nairobi, with trafficking 25 Kenyans to Russia last year. Police spokesperson Michael Muchiri said Omwamba sought to flee Kenya after returning from Russia.

Omwamba, who was identified by three Kenyan recruits who spoke to The Associated Press, had gone missing after families started protesting the disappearances and deaths of their relatives in the war in Ukraine.

The Kenyan government last week said more than 1,000 Kenyans were recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine and that at least 89 Kenyans were still on the front line, 39 were hospitalized, 28 were missing in action, and others had returned home. It has confirmed one death.

An intelligence report presented to Kenya’s Parliament by the majority leader, Kimani Ichung’wah, said Kenyan and Russian government officials colluded with rogue job recruitment agencies to lure Kenyans to the front lines.

The Russian Embassy in Nairobi has denied the allegations, saying last week that it never issued visas to anyone intending to travel to Russia to fight in Ukraine.

Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi told the AP on Feb. 9 that he would travel to Russia for what he called a “diplomatic approach to rein in any dubious entities that are taking advantage of anyone in this misadventure.” He said efforts to secure the release of Kenyans in Ukrainian prisons and repatriate those in Russia were ongoing.

Omwamba’s arrest is seen as a major development in the government’s push to stop the recruitment of Kenyans to fight in Ukraine.

A recruit who escaped from the front line and sought refuge at the Kenyan Embassy in Russia, and was later processed for return home, John Kamau, told the AP he met Omwamba at a house in Nairobi where fellow recruits awaiting travel to Russia were kept.

Another recruit, who requested anonymity for fear of being tracked down by Russians, said Omwamba avoided contacting the recruits by text message and would instead call them or meet them in person.

The recruit had signed up after being told he would get a plumbing job in Russia, but on arrival, his passport was taken away and he was taken to a military camp for a few days before being deployed to the front line.

The brother of another recruit who went to Russia in August 2025 told the AP on Thursday that his brother shared messages between him and Omwamba before he traveled.

In the messages, Omwamba asked Reuben Nyaboga to make payments and gave him bank account details that showed that he had paid Omwamba’s recruitment agency.

Nyaboga’s contract, seen by the AP, was, however, generated under a different recruitment company registered under another director’s name. It stated that he was going to work as an “armed security guard.”

“On the day of travel, I saw Omwamba at the airport handing out passports to my brother and other men he was traveling with,” Nyaboga’s brother Lamech Mboga told the AP. Nyaboga has not been in touch with his family since last year and is believed to be among the prisoners of war held in Ukraine.

The recruits said Omwamba oversaw their tourist visa applications and ticket purchases, and two weeks after the first contact, they received visas and traveled to Russia.

Evelyne Musambi And Vivianne Wandera, The Associated Press