Subcommittee on Human Rights HEARING Public hearing on third-country nationals forced to fight in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine
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DROI European Parliament
Follow its sittingsPekka Toveri
We know that now that we are in the fifth year of the war, Russian casualties are increasing. Their capability to recruit their own nationals is going down. The start is to be empty. Now they try to recruit even female prisoners, not very great success there. Russian government's finances don't allow increasing the incentives and recruitment payments anymore.
A lot of the regions are already bankrupt, and they can't do it. Therefore, they will tune what's available, and the threats to the third country nationals is increasing, especially since they are increasing the recruitment of third country nationals to the war industry because of lack of workforce. And these people are very vulnerable because when they are in Russia, you are at the mercy of the Russian authorities. And as my dear colleague mentioned, this is a very serious problem, and we need to cooperate with the third countries who are targeted in this recruitment to prevent this from increasing and happening in the future. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you very much indeed to both of you. I will now give the floor straight away to Madam Tomac. You have seven minutes.
Speaker 6
Dear mister chairman, distinguished members of the European Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to introduce to you our work. Today, I represent the Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian-based human rights organization that documents war crimes in Ukraine since 02/14 and the beginning of the Russian aggression. We started to research the issue of foreign fighters recruited by Russia back in 02/00/25. We presume that this tool that Moscow uses to avoid the broad mobilization of its own citizens is mercenarism in essence. However, with more data collected, especially from the interview with the prisoners of war, we collected 16 interviews, our perception shifted.
At least some foreigners are drawn into the war unwillingly and without their acknowledgment. Recently, we have published a report on this topic in partnership with Fortify Rights, and this report covers Bangladesh and the South Asian region. It is based on 24 interviews, including relatives of Bangladeshi men who died in the front lines, those recruited, anti-trafficking service providers, and police, prisoners of war from Nepal and Sri Lanka held in Ukraine, and Ukrainian institutions. We established how men from low-income countries with limited migration pathways are targeted by brokers through fraudulent job offers, misinformation, and scams, routed through third countries and given Russian language contracts they cannot read. Several survivors described being sent into combat with little or no training and without knowledge that they were actually going to the front lines.
Others were beaten by commanders, denied pay, or prevented from leaving. Passports were confiscated. Attempts to escape were met with threats. Families in Bangladesh were left in debt after paying recruitment fees of 1,000 US dollars, only to later receive news of a son or a husband killed in the front lines. For example, one Bangladesh survivor told us that after losing his job in Malaysia, he sought overseas work again to support his family.
And he said, I was repeatedly assured by the Bangladeshi broker that this was not a military work and had nothing to do with the war. However, he was traveling from Dhaka to Dubai and then to Moscow, and he ended up being in the front lines after paying several thousand dollars. You can find multiple examples of such stories in our report. It's available online on the Truth Hounds' website. Some foreigners are recruited from their home countries, some from inside Russia being working migrants or students.
They're attracted by the promises of the high salaries, or being blackmailed by the prison, or facing pressure from the Russian law enforcement. We're talking several thousand people from South Asia, most of them from Nepal and Sri Lanka, at least according to the data of the coordination headquarters for the treatment of the prisoners of war in Ukraine. We provide some figures in our report from this specific region. However, local journalists and researchers that are dealing with the issue estimate the number to be two or three times higher, both those recruited as well as death toll. While discussing this problem, we'll have to consider the existing human trafficking networks in Nepal and Bangladesh, whilst in Sri Lanka, for instance, the large-scale recruitment of military pensioners appears to be linked to power structures.
In our report, we try to provide the legal assessment of the recruitment done by Russia. In general, the evidence suggests a recurring pattern in line with the crime of human trafficking, even though not in all of the cases. As under the Palermo protocol to which Russia is a party, consent obtained through deception or abuse of vulnerability is legally irrelevant. Of course, not all of the foreigners are drawn into the war through fraud or deception. Some of them are even proudly publishing on social media photos of them wearing the Russian military uniform.
However, at this stage, we cannot establish the proportion of each category. So the legal background of this phenomenon, which is referred to as predatory recruitment, is pretty complex. There is an interception of the international humanitarian law as those fighters are combatants because they signed contracts with the Russian army, and they get or are supposed to get the same payment as Russian soldiers. We have international human rights law as some of them at least, should be considered as human trafficking survivors, and victims of exploitation. And international criminal law might still be there, as some of them might be considered as mercenaries.
The role of the governments of the home countries of fighters is critical when it comes to combating recruitment. They are the ones who should publicly call out Russia for conducting the predatory recruitment of their citizens as India did, although it was just partly effective, and introduce appropriate domestic regulations as Nepal did by imposing a ban on any working migration to Russia and Ukraine at least temporarily. As in many cases, it is comparatively easy to get a Russian visa, and Russia will likely remain one of the key destinations for the working migrants, especially if the war in Middle East continues. And all of those people are essentially at risk. At the same time, the role of media and human rights defenders in collecting data and requesting proper reaction from the governments remain critical.
Just two weeks ago, in Bangladesh, we met with the representatives of the newly arrived government and leading parliamentarian parties, and we remain optimistic about at least the proclaimed willingness of Bangladesh to stop the recruitment. In our report, we provide a number of recommendations to Russia, to Bangladesh International Organization. Clearly, the first priority is to stop recruitment and to withdraw foreigners from the front lines, but we also suggest that Ukraine should screen the cases of prisoners of war regarding the signs of human trafficking. And if detected, some proper solution should be found. Clearly, this is the global problem.
More can unfold there for Russia means security challenges for Ukraine and the EU respectively. Also, people who served in the Russian army just yesterday might try to come as working migrants to the EU tomorrow, with all the security risks that it might bring. Therefore, I ask you to transfer the signal as a security concern to the partner countries in which recruitment takes place, and those countries that are used to transfer people. Mostly, these are Gulf countries. Also, to push for the proper investigation on the recruitment networks, all those middlemen and agencies, etc., to support proper awareness-raising campaigns in the respective countries among those traveling to Russia, be it migrant workers or students.
I thank you.
Madam Tomac. Thank.
Speaker 1
Thank you very much indeed, madam Tomac. I will now give the floor to Madam Bibiana Waitaka. You also have seven minutes, sir. I hope that the connection is good enough.
Speaker 7
Chair, honorable members, my name is Bibiana Wangari Waithaka. I'm a Kenyan and a mother. I stand before you today as the mother of Charles Waithaka Wangari, my firstborn son who died on the Russian-Ukrainian war front. Charles was not only my son. He was a man who carried the hopes of many people who loved him.
He was a plant mechanic by profession, where he worked for Latuda Construction in Lakeopia. He was a hardworking, ambitious, and responsible man. And like many young men, he dreamt of building a better future for himself and for his family. My son did not travel to Russia to fight in a war since he did not have any military skills. He was deceived by fake promises of employment.
A Kenyan woman called Elizabeth Widara, who advertised jobs abroad, told my son that he could travel to Russia to work as a plant mechanic, which was his profession. He told us that her husband and two of her sons were already there, so I had no reason to doubt her. His visa and travel documents were processed in less than six hours, and he received them on 10/01/2025. His flight was scheduled for the very next day. Our family accompanied Charles to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to say goodbye.
At the airport, the same woman joined us and collected 160,000 Kenya shillings from my son as a commission for arranging the job. After passing through the check-in points, Charles sent us a short video from inside the plane. In that video, he said only two words, bye Kenya. Little did he know that he was saying goodbye to his country for the last time. Later that evening, he informed me that he had arrived in the Middle East and was being assisted by another Kenyan called Pitawainaina.
The next day, he traveled onward to Bosco, where he was received by a Russian agent called Juria. At first, our communication was normal. He told me how good the country was and that he had been taken to open a bank account. But very soon, everything changed. My son told me that instead of working as a mechanic, he had been placed in military training.
He had not agreed to this. He told me he was forced to sign documents he could not read, and that he felt trapped. Later, I learned that my son was not alone. Other young men from Kenya and from different African countries had also traveled to Russia, believing they were going for work, only to find themselves forced into military training. I will never forget the moment he called me and began to cry.
He said, ma, I'm in military training against my will. The training that took only three weeks before he was sent to the front line. He told me the money he deposited in his bank account was immediately withdrawn by the agent who controlled the account. When he complained, he was threatened. He was told that from that moment on, he was a property of the Russian government.
As a mother, I became desperate to save my son. In my pain, I even made the treble decision to pretend that I had died hoping they would allow him to return to Kenya to bury me, but the permission was never granted. My son continued crying in tears, asking for help that I could not offer. He told me they often survived on very little food, sometimes a very small amount of canned foods for days. Every day he cried and told me that his chances of survival were very small, almost zero.
One day he told me something that shocked me deeply. He said, ma'am, you know how I have never smoked, but here we are doing drugs. We are forced to smoke something that we do not recognize. He also said they were sometimes forced to dance and smile in videos, which was sent back to Africa so that people would believe they were happy last year. In December, our communication began to fail.
Charles' birthday was on December 25. A few days before his birthday, he sent a photograph of himself. His eyes were swollen from crying. He told me, Mom, you were happy at sunrise. How would you react at sunset?
My birthday is the sunrise, but by sunset may come first. When I asked him what he tried to mean, he said again, by sunrise, I mean my birthday. By sunset, I mean death. On December 27, at 07:45 in the morning, I received the last signal from my son. He was crying.
He kept on repeating, mom, today. Mom, today. He never finished the sentence. After that call, I never heard my son's voice again. I continued sending him messages every day.
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night. There was no response. On 01/24/2026, I learned about my son's death from social media. The whole world knew that my son had died. Accepting as a family, we were forced to hold a memorial without a body because the bodies of those who died on the battlefield were not collected. Today, my son's body lies somewhere far away, a place unknown to me.
All I wish is to see his remains one day, so that I can have closure and peace in my heart. My son died in a war that was not his and not war for his country because of this. I believe there must be cognition and accountability for what happened to him. No amount of money can replace a child. Nothing can restore the life that has been taken away from us.
But recognition and compensation would acknowledge the suffering of families like mine, and help ensure that responsibility is not ignored. I therefore ask that the families who were greeted under the same circumstances be considered in any compensation or accountability mechanisms related to this war. I stand here not only for my son Charles, but for all the young men who are deceived and sent into a war that was not theirs. Charles was my son before he became a statistic of this war. I ask that his life and the lives of others like him are not forgotten.
When justice and accountability for these conflicts are discussed. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you. I can't even imagine the pain you must be feeling, and I must thank you for your account. We will do everything we can to put an end to these practices on the part of the Russian authorities, and we will continue to have these exchanges. I will now hand over to Miss Tolo for seven minutes. The floor is yours.
Speaker 8
Dear chair, honorable members, thank you for this opportunity. Over the past nine months, I have investigated the recruitment of African nationals into Russia's war in Ukraine, interviewing prisoners of war, Africans currently fighting for Russian forces, recruits who escaped and returned, and the families of those who traveled to Russia and never returned. According to the latest available data, Ukrainian officials have identified at least 1,800 African nationals from 36 countries, mostly in their twenties, fighting in the Russian forces. Few countries have confirmed the number of their citizens, but Kenya has. A joint intelligence report presented to the Kenyan parliament indicates that roughly 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited or lured into these networks as of February 2026.
Just yesterday, the cabinet secretary of foreign affairs revised these numbers. He now claims there are only 252 Kenyans in Russia. From my interviews with the family, the true number of casualties remains unknown. To understand why these recruitment networks find willing candidates, we must look at the economic conditions in the countries where many of the recruits originate. Across Africa, tens of millions of young people are classified as NEET, not in education, employment, or training.
In just seven African countries, more than 13,000,000 young men of fighting age fall into this category. The EU is well aware of the drivers of the South-North migration from Africa. In my interviews with African recruits, ideology or political support was not a factor in the enlistment, it was the economic opportunity. Recruitment appeared to follow two main pathways in Kenya. There's a semi-formal labor recruitment channel where agencies that normally recruit workers for overseas employment targeted former security personnel, and they ended up recruiting hundreds of Kenyans.
This cohort was generally aware they were enlisting in the Russian military, and in some cases, received basic Russian language training and military style drilling before departure. The second pathway is more deceptive. Recruits are led by less formalized brokers to believe they are traveling for civilian jobs. We're talking drivers, construction jobs. And then, when they arrive in Russia, they are processed for military service.
Recruits are typically promised 2,000 USD. Now, plus bonuses and a prospect of Russian citizenship, far more than the roughly $200 they earn at home. But for recruiters, it's highly lucrative. For every single recruit, you earn a commission of $15,000. If you can mobilize 100 recruits, you end up and generate around $1,500,000.
One of the most troubling findings for us was the fact that a lot of the recruits were recruited not by strangers, but by friends, neighbors, and colleagues. There was an issue of trust and therefore people did not question the recruitment network or rather the recruiters. Once in Russia, many recruits described conditions that left them effectively unable to leave. The passports were confiscated upon arrival. The contracts were presented only in Russian, and there was no translation.
Many of them said they did not fully understand what they signed. Several of these practices track the basic elements of human trafficking described in the Palermo Protocol, including recruitment through deception or the abuse of vulnerability. Now remittances are a key motivation for the migrant African and even for governments that look the other way, even when aware of such illegal activities. Many of the recruits traveled mainly because they believed they could send money back home to help their families. In reality, they could not.
Russian banks are heavily sanctioned, a fact that was not always disclosed to them. Going around informal networks was difficult to arrange. Several recruits said they were instructed before they left that they could only open bank accounts because they could send money back home. They did not seem to be aware that swift transfers are blocked. As one recruit told me, you can see the money in your account, but you can't use it.
In many cases, the recruits are required to execute powers of attorney in favor of intermediaries they hardly know. There are many reported instances of fraud. In reality, the recruiters have total control over the soldiers' earnings. Once deployed, many recruits reported receiving as little as 10 days of training before being sent to the frontline. Language barriers added to their vulnerability, as orders were given in Russian.
One Egyptian translator who worked with foreign recruits described meeting new arrivals from Cameroon, Iraq, Ghana, China, and Egypt. Many had university degrees. Some were doctors. He recalled questions. How can I cancel my contract?
How can I go back home? His answer, he said, was always the same. Once you sign, it is finished. The prisoner of war interviews also described the use of untrained Africans as frontline infantry. Now my interview suggests a shift in deployment patterns.
Kenyans who traveled to Russia between July 2023 report being sent to the front lines within days of arrival. Others who went there earlier at least spent six or five weeks in training. Ghanaian recruits told me about bribes that they paid to avoid the frontline for months. Dissertation and surrender are hard to pull off. Recruits reported being constantly monitored.
I will close with the words of one former Kenyan athlete, currently a prisoner of war in Ukraine. Ivan Skibert told me, even if there are no jobs in Kenya, just stay there. Going to Russia is okay. Going to Russia for military work isn't okay. Your chances of coming back home are slim.
This is not a job. It is a death contract. I thank you.
Thank.
Speaker 1
you. The last remote speaker is mister Joseph for three minutes. The floor is yours.
Speaker 9
Can I start? Good morning. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen from partner countries, distinguished colleagues from the European Parliament, and other countries. First of all, allow me to express my deep gratitude for your resolute support of Ukraine. Your solidarity helps us not only to withstand Russian aggression, but also to fight for the basic principles of international law.
Today, as a representative of the coordinate, coordination HQ for POWs, I want to draw your attention to the problem that is not only Ukrainian, but also a problem for many other countries, which is mass recruitment by Russia of foreigners for combat in the frontline. Russia as the aggressor suffers a lot of casualties, and they're afraid of conducting another wave of mobilization inside the country. The Kremlin is practically buying soldiers and turning foreigners into cheap disposable resources. We have systemic data and named lists. As of 01/01/2026, at least 27,407 foreigners were taking part in combat or are continuing to take part in combat as part of the Russian armed forces.
This number is larger than some armed forces in some of the European countries. The dynamics of recruitment is very concerning, and it is increasing. In 2023, 3,808 foreigners enlisted. In 2024, it was 8,265. In 2025, it was more than 13,900.
The greatest number of them come from post-Soviet countries, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Azerbaijan, etcetera. At the same time, we are recording the number of recruited nationals from Africa and South America, in particular, from Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Nigeria, and Brazil. How do they end up in the front line? The Russians are very cynical. They use three main methods: bribery, promises of salaries up to $2,000, and promises of Russian citizenship.
Fraud, lies, recruitment in the guise of highly paid civilian jobs, after which people are sent for a very short training from one to two weeks. And at this, immediately, they're thrown into combat. They're forcing them or blackmailing them, blackmailing with imprisonment. They also enlist inmates in exchange for being let off their prison sentences. For the Russians, these are ideal soldiers because their death will not cause any concern in Russia, and their families will not receive any compensation and often not even any information about the fate of their loved ones.
Because of the language barrier and lack of training, they are mainly sent to assault units where they are quickly killed or severely injured. There is a persistent trend to, for people who choose life and surrender. In 2025, the number of those who surrendered went up by a factor of 2.5 compared to 22, 23, and 24 taken together. And as of March 2026, in our centers of detention, we have several 100 foreigners from 45 countries of the world that had been recruited by the Russians. As a law-based state, Ukraine adheres to the international human rights law and the Geneva Convention.
All the prisoners of war who are foreigners are supplied with hot meals, medical assistance, and have unimpeded access to the Red Cross committee. At the same time, Russia basically ignores their existence and shows no interest in getting them back. We urge the governments of our partner countries to take care of their citizens and not allow Putin's regime to use them as cannon fodder. We need to stand up decisively to the Russian recruitment networks and call to answer those who have become recruiters. Only together will we be able to stop this cynical practice.
Thank you. And thank you for your attention, and thank you for your support.
Thank.
Speaker 10
Thank you for those comments. We'll move on to the members, Isabelle, for the EPP. Thank you. We're aware of the fact, but it's hugely important to have public hearings like these ones to hear about the facts and to give us a clearer and more comprehensive idea of the situation. So I'd like to thank all of those who spoke here today, and I'd like to thank you for this witness account of a mother that must have been really painful.
Indeed, we're working on this resolution. And this is important because it makes people aware of what's happening and that we're aware. Miss Tomok, you've given us some indications regarding what we could do when it comes to training, but my question is the following. What more can we do? Could you give us some more details?
What could we do, how could we improve things? I know that we won't be able to stop it completely, but how can we make a difference? I do apologize. I'm going to have to head off to a vote in another committee, but my colleagues will continue to listen to you. And I would like to really extend my gratitude for your work on the ground, improving the situation.
Speaker 11
Thank you. Thank you. Mister Guerta for renew. Isabelle, I believe, is wrong, as much as I respect her. I think there's a lot we can do.
Speaker 12
This is very negative for the image Russia has in Africa, their political and military influence in Africa. We, as MEPs, can get these accounts out there and tell people what's happening, and highlight the cynicism of Russia's treatment of African people from Africa and other places. So I do believe there are things we can do, achieve. And I think this can be very decisive. The foreign minister in Russia, mister Lavrov, has been reassuring actors that this would not happen again, because they're aware of how damaging this can be for them across the African Continent.
I was wondering, couldn't we get this witness account of a mother out there on social media, as well as your account, madam, as in what we heard from the Ukrainian member of parliament. We've got witness accounts. We've got actual evidence, and I believe we should use it.
Thank.
Speaker 1
You, colleagues. Now, of course, this is being web streamed, but we'll reach out to the respective services to try to communicate this even more. I will now hand over to Miss Suri.
Thank.
Speaker 14
You, chair. Miss Vizler Lima's question was very interesting, and I was very interested to hear your reaction. I'd like to thank all the speakers. I'd like to express my compassion for you as a mother. Losing your son, that must have been absolutely dreadful.
Speaker 13
Now I wanted to know what instruments are there that you could use to stop this recruiting? Okay. So that's the question. Miss Anderson.
Li Andersson
Thank you very much. And I also agree with the previous speakers, thanking you for your stories and testimonies, and these are really horrific stories and also serious human rights offenses. And I think you can also notice how the recruitment patterns, the strategies that are used are ones that are also used for labor migration in general and for forced labor migration, but in this case, for an illegal war and with a death sentence as the end result, as was pointed out. My question would be, Mrs. Tomak mentioned the importance of working with partner countries to be able to address deceitful recruitment.
But taking into consideration this global scale of the recruitment happening in Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil, who is the actor that should be working with the partner countries, taking into consideration, as I said, the global scale of the challenge and the job, and what role do you think that European Union could play in this regard?
Thank.
You, mister.
Karterizer. Thank.
Speaker 17
You, chair. I'd like to thank all the speakers for these accounts, which can be very emotional and very moving, I must say. I have a couple of questions. Because looking at the headlines in recent days, two days ago, the BBC said that Russia, after diplomatic intervention on the part of Kenya, accepted to stop recruiting Kenyan citizens for its armed forces. So the question is, couldn't other African states intervene with Russia to put an end to these practices?
Speaker 18
So to try to find an understanding with the Russian authorities to stop these practices. Then on the foreign legion of Ukraine, I read an article February 2026, which said that Kyiv, so the Ukrainian authorities, had secretly dissolved the foreign legion. The Ukrainian general staff was inviting legionnaires to join assault squads who were involved in the most dangerous missions of the regular army. This was a division that was created a couple of days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now to the Ukrainian representative, could you explain what Ukraine's intentions are with foreign fighters amongst Ukrainian ranks?
Speaker 1
Thank you. Any other request to speak? I don't see any. No. No?
Okay. I'll hand over to our speakers in the same order, starting with Miss Tomak. Over to you for a couple of minutes to respond to the questions.
Speaker 6
First of all, thank you so much for your comments and questions. On the issue, what can be done? And I understand that the European Union is not affected directly by this problem, but I still think that there's something that can be done given the stance of the EU and the EU member states in many of those countries. So I believe that the representatives of the EU or the EU member states could sound this concern as the security concern for the EU before the governments of the countries where the recruitment takes place in a more most intense way. So I believe it is possible.
And, again, when we were in Bangladesh, we met some of the embassies of the EU member states, and I felt like this is something that they could do in further just to bring up this issue before the local partners and to encourage them to go after the brokers, to go after the agencies and middlemen, and to take other measures just to stop the recruitment. So that would be the immediate answer. And to be honest, you know, like, there are different thoughts about this, but, like, my observation is that none of the governments, even those who are perceived to be very friendly towards Russia, are happy with their people being recruited, in this predatory way. And there are two reasons for this because the consequences are that these governments have to face these consequences. It's not Russia that is facing the consequences.
Because people of those who die in the front lines or who are missing, they come to the government, you know, and ask questions. They're not asking Russia mostly because Russia is far away, but they ask their governments. And second thing is that, this issue puts these governments in a very inconvenient diplomatical position because they were not sending those people in the Russian army. However, it's like you know, it looks like because of the scales, they might be involved. You know?
And those countries, they mostly portray themselves as, you know, nonaligned, neutral, etc., but this issue just puts this position under question. So I believe that it is still, sorry, possible to work with this government. And also just to say about the information in the social media and public campaigns, I think it is really, really important to do that further, but I think that the great work has been done already. You know, this issue has been all over the place in local media, in the international media. It's still not enough.
But just to say that without this media outcry, we would not have this hearing, I believe. So this is, should be noted as well. And, like, I cannot, unfortunately, comment on the policies regarding the foreigners in the Ukrainian army, but I can tell that we were researching this issue from the angle of recruitment precisely. So this is, like, not the fact that Russia recruits foreigners in principle, which is also bad, but the fact how it's done, that's what also brought our attention, that it is done through the human trafficking, essentially. Thank you.
Speaker 8
Okay. As of seventeen March, Russian authorities said they had halted the recruitment of Kenyan nationals into the Russian armed forces, suggesting that international scrutiny may be beginning to have an effect. Ghana, the foreign affairs minister of Ghana, was in Ukraine, I think, about two weeks ago negotiating the repatriation of its citizens, about two of them. African governments have already expressed willingness, and I think there is a need for more talks and negotiation with African governments. Now, in terms of what the EU can do, I think there's also need for support for independent investigations into deceptive recruitment networks.
There's also a need for support for journalism, independent journalism, and CSOs who document these cases. They are often the first to detect emerging patterns. Thank you.
Online.
Speaker 1
I'd like to give the floor to madam Waifaka again if you would like to say something else, to comment or answer your questions.
Come again.
Speaker 1
Madam, I can give you the floor again if you'd like to answer any of the questions my colleagues have raised. You have the floor. But don't feel obliged. It's up to you. Could we give her a few seconds?
Oh, go ahead. We can hear you.
Speaker 7
Can you hear me? To me as a mother, since the death of my son, life has never been the same. I am not the same woman that I used to be, the strong mother I used to be. It really hit me. Anytime I think of my son, Charles is the pillar of the family and the pillar of many.
Now that he's no more, life has never been the same. I feel saddened. Anytime I enter his room, when I see his clothes, shoes, his bed, I feel that emptiness. His siblings cry daily asking, is it true that our brother is never coming back to life like a mother. I need to be strong for them.
I try to hold myself together, but at some point, I break. I cannot hold myself anymore. It's true. I need to be strong for them, but I'm also human. I lose control and cry in front of my children, which is not very okay.
Right now, I am unwell. I am going through psychosocial support. Charles is the one who could be taking care of it, but now that he's not there, who do I turn to? His siblings are in school. He used to take care of them.
Who shall stand in that space? Charles was a man of the people. Anywhere he went, any place he went, first thing he could do was bring youth together, form a football club, and support them. Like yesterday, they called me and asked me, mom, now that Charles is not there. Who will stand in that space?
He's the founder of three football clubs. Those boys are calling me daily, asking me what they are gonna do, but Charles is not there. Charles was a big dreamer. He left projects unfinished. I'm left there to stand in his position.
As much as people keep telling me that it is well, it is not well and it shall not be well. Child is not reprehensible. Even today, if I were to give birth to a baby boy, he cannot be Charles. In fact, Charles branded his clothes in my name. He used to tell me, Mommy, the whole world knows that you are my mother.
You are irreplaceable. Nobody can replace your mom. The relationship between me and Charles was more of a friend to a mother. There's nothing that he could do without informing me. Like, the projects that he left and finished, whatever, he is in heaven, he expects me to continue with the projects as weak as I am.
As weak as I am in heaven, he expects me to complete the projects. He expects me to continue supporting the football clubs that he started. He expects me to be strong for them and offer whatever they need. I cannot. Mothers like me are crying.
The emptiness is felt by us mothers whose sons were sent to war, and they died in war that was not theirs. They have those who come back. They are not the same people who went to Russia. They come back with their legs amputated. They are disabled.
They have families who look after them. No. They had wrong at the same. They are disabled. They have children to feed.
They have children to take to school and all the family's needs. Now they cannot do it anymore. Oh my god. Who am I supposed to turn to? Where is our help going to come from?
Merci.
Speaker 1
Thank you very much indeed. I think your message has fully got across. And as we've said, we would try to make your witness statement as visible as possible in the media. We'll do everything we can here. Now I'd like to give the floor to Mister Yousuf online, if you'd like to add anything after hearing the members' questions.
Speaker 9
Thank you. In response to the question from the mother who lost her son and who is grieving now, my answer is this. Please address the Ukrainian government, the Ukrainian agencies, and the Ukrainian headquarters on the treatment of POWs. There are projects in Ukraine for the people serving in the Russian military, people who were forced to serve there. There is a project called I want to live, and those projects help them to surrender and under the guarantees of the Geneva Convention, save their lives and ask for the protection of the Ukrainian government and the International Committee of the Red Cross, other international organizations too.
Thousands of Russian soldiers have used this opportunity already, as well as third country nationals who ended up in the Russian army. Now, as to the questions about the international legion. The Ukrainian government, the Ministry of Defense, and the headquarters of the Armed Forces are publicly commenting on this topic. To the best of my knowledge, we are talking about reforming certain structures in the Armed Forces. All foreign volunteers under the laws of Ukraine can use all the rights of the citizens of Ukraine, and they serve in the armed forces of Ukraine.
They continue to serve in different units and divisions. There is an international legion at the general intelligence service of Ukraine. Those are the foreign nationals who help us counteract the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Thank.
Speaker 20
you. Now we're lucky enough to have with us the head of the Russian division, and I'll give you the floor for 5 minutes. Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you to all the speakers. I think you're completely right. It's very difficult to take the floor after hearing these kinds of speeches, and I'm going to tell you about what we are doing and what we can do.
Speaker 21
In thanking miss Pibiana Waitaka for her testimony, I want to honor your grief, madam, and the grief of all the mothers and families of those who are missed, who are misled and harmed by these recruitment practices. Charles and you, all the mothers and families of all those who are lost in this war deserve justice and accountability. And this is the position of the president of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and of the high representative, Kayakalas. Our first concern is for the young Africans and Asians, and the families affected. And as we heard today in the testimonies, those who were recruited on many occasions believed they were traveling abroad for legitimate work opportunities, hoping to support their families and build a better future.
So what are we doing as the EU? First, the EU and member states, we currently call on Russia to provide full transparency regarding the recruitment, treatment, and fate of African and Asian nationals who have been drawn into this conflict. High representative Kayakalas has tasked the EU's wide network of delegations in African and Asian countries to monitor the situation and reach out to local governments. And this is what we're doing. We are receiving reports that several governments have already begun investigating recruitment networks and requesting the return of their citizens.
So the European Union stands ready to support these efforts, and we already work closely with some of our African partners and institutions. And our priority in this approach is to protect citizens from exploitation and to dismantle the recruitment networks that target vulnerable young people. We also support the dignified repatriation of those affected, including the respectful return of the remains of individuals who have lost their lives, so that families can find closure. More broadly, we want to work with African partners to ensure that young people seeking opportunities abroad have access to safe, transparent, and legitimate pathways for work, education, and migration. This is one of the projects that we're implementing with DG Home, together with the European Commission.
So this is why we have committed to work with African and Asian governments, with regional organizations, and with civil society. In response to some comments, notably, mister Guitar, I want to confirm that we are already engaged in exposing and denouncing Russia's actions. Together with Ukrainian colleagues, we have decided to demarch African governments ahead of the major meetings they are planning with Russia. This was the case precisely of the Kenyan government ahead of the travel of the Kenyan minister Musalia Mudavadi to Russia this week. And as you rightly reported, it was publicly said that Russia will stop the recruitment.
Unfortunately, these were the words of the minister from Kenya. Minister Lavrov has been seated next to him. He didn't comment. The official position of Russia is that these recruitments do not happen involuntarily. So we still have a lot to do, but the Kenyan example is the first one that shows that this approach may be working.
Secondly, our ambassadors in African countries have also been tasked to speak publicly about Russia's tactics. For example, our ambassador to Nigeria has already given two interviews in prime time on Nigeria's leading TV stations denouncing Russia's practices. So we will continue this approach, exposing, denouncing, and pressuring Russia to stop setting traps and abusing. This is on one hand. On the other hand, we will be cooperating with governments and countries whose youth is lured to fight Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and we will surely seek accountability and justice on international fora.
Speaker 1
thank you very much. That brings us to the end of this discussion. We reaffirm as part of this our commitment against trafficking in human beings and serious human rights violations related to the recruitment of non-Russian nationals, in particular from Africa, for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. We are completely committed to making sure that our parliament sends out that message, that we denounce these human rights violations, and that brings our morning session to the end. See you this afternoon.
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