International
Uproar as Ukraine seeks to enlist fighters from Africa
Nigeria, Senegal and Algeria have criticized Ukraine’s effort to recruit international fighters for its war with Russia. Analysts say those who have responded to the call need to reconsider.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is barely two weeks old but Ukraine is already attracting potential foreign fighters from as far away as Kenya.
“If Ukraine decides to pay me a very good amount of money, which I know I cannot earn here, I will definitely go there and fight,” Kimanzi Nashon, a student in the Kenyan capital Nairobi said.
“When we go there, and then the war ends before anything happens, I will come back to Kenya and be a millionaire,” said Nashon.
Nashon isn’t alone in harboring thoughts of being a hired fighter in Ukraine.
“If an opportunity presented itself for me to fight in Ukraine as a mercenary, I would be on my heels running there,” Beatrice Kaluki, who is unemployed, told DW.
“I would rather die on the front line in Ukraine knowing that my family would be compensated even after my death, rather than die in Kenya from depression because of the insane unemployment rate!”
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The 27-year-old said she believes other youths would run there [to Ukraine] if a chance presented itself because “they would rather die there fighting than die in this country from poverty.”
Ukraine’s call to all
Their sentiments result from last week’s rallying cry by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for like-minded people to come to the country’s defense against Russia’s invasion.
According to Ryan Cummings, director of Signal Risk, a South African-based security risk management consultancy, President Zelenskyy might be capitalizing on Africa’s challenging socio-economic condition to lure African fighters to Ukraine.
“African nationals might see an economic opportunity from participating in this conflict,” Cummings told DW.
He said the reward could potentially come from being granted Ukrainian citizenship or being provided some form of financial compensation for participating in the conflict on behalf of Ukrainian forces.
However, African countries have come out strongly to condemn Ukraine’s call for African fighters to join the “international legion” against the Russian invasion.
Nigeria on Monday issued a warning on Twitter to its citizens that it would not tolerate any recruitment of mercenaries to fight alongside Ukrainian forces against Russian troops
Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry spokesperson, Francisca Omayuli, said Nigeria would not allow Nigerians to volunteer as mercenaries.
Omayuli also said that the Ukraine Embassy in Nigeria had refuted local Nigerian media reports that it was demanding money from Nigerian volunteers as reported .
“The Embassy … dissociated itself from the claim that it is requesting $1,000 (€917) from each Nigerian volunteer for air ticket and visa,” Omayuli said.
According to the Nigerian daily, The Guardian, last week more than 100 young men registered their interest in fighting at Ukraine’s embassy in Abuja.
Senegal ‘shocked’ by Kyiv’s recruitment drive
Senegal has also expressed its displeasure with Ukraine’s government, saying that at least 36 people in Senegal were ready to confront Russian forces.
DW tried to reach some of the volunteers but was unsuccessful.
Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it was astonished to learn that the Embassy of Ukraine in Dakar had posted an appeal on its Facebook page for foreign citizens to come to Ukraine’s combat aid.
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In a statement, the Senegalese government criticized the initiative and warned its citizens that recruiting volunteers, mercenaries, or foreign fighters on Senegalese soil is illegal.
Although Ukraine’s Embassy in Senegal has since deleted the Facebook post, the willingness of some young Africans to fight in Ukraine raises questions about their profiles and motivations.
“These young people who want to get involved [in Ukraine] have not fully considered political or religious implications,” said Serigne Bamba Gaye, a researcher on peace, security and governance at the US-based Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI).
“They are only interested in answering a call without perhaps understanding the issues surrounding the Ukrainian conflict,” Gaye said.
Africa’s complex ties with Russia
Senegal, which shares extensive political and military ties with Russia, was one of 17 African countries that abstained from voting on the March 2 UN resolution condemning Russia’s aggression and calling for an end to the fighting.
Algeria, another client of Russian military hardware, also called on Ukraine to desist from trying to enlist fighters from its country. Its government, too, has remained silent over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“For the past 20 or 30 years, we have seen many recruiters who recruit young Africans to take them to play the role of mercenaries,” Gaye said, adding that the prospect of economic gains easily lures young people.
“The other element that seems important to me is the social [media] networks that make any cause today have a global dimension. A country needs support, so we’re going to go there.”
Social media has turned into a battlefield between those who back Ukraine and those for Russia.
For security and risk analyst Ryan Cummings, African countries need to consider the implications of allowing their citizens to travel to Ukraine as hired guns.
“Russia has stated any country that is actively assisting Ukraine in this war, or as Russia calls it: ‘a special military operation to demilitarize and de-nazify Ukraine’, will be considered at war with Russia,” he said.
He warned that the Kremlin could also retaliate by ending diplomatic relations with African countries that support Ukraine.
MSN/DW
International
Ukraine receives bodies of 140 fallen soldiers from Russia
Ukraine receives bodies of 140 fallen soldiers from Russia
Ukraine has received the bodies of 140 soldiers killed while trying to defend the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson from Russian attacks.
The authority responsible for prisoner-of-war matters said on Telegram on Friday that five bodies were from the Sumy section in northern Ukraine.
Russia has no Ukrainian territories under its control in this area; however, at the beginning of March, units of allegedly Russian volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine made advances from the Sumy region into Russian territory.
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Once the identities of the dead have been established, they will be handed over to their relatives, the authority said.
The authority, known as the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for arranging the return.
Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for over two years.
Despite the ongoing fighting, both sides regularly exchange the bodies of fallen soldiers and prisoners of war.
It is not yet known whether and how many dead soldiers Russia has received in return.
Ukraine receives bodies of 140 fallen soldiers from Russia
International
Weeks after Iran’s attack, Israel discovers another massive surface-to-surface missile
Weeks after Iran’s attack, Israel discovers another massive surface-to-surface missile
Weeks after missiles sent by Iran on April 14 rocked several parts of Israel, another debris of a surface-to-surface missile has been found in the southern part of the country.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the debris that was found by hikers in southern Israel, has been successfully evacuated.
“The effects of Iran’s attack on Israel can still be seen weeks after it occurred.
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“Earlier today, our troops removed the debris of a surface-to-surface missile intercepted during the Iranian attack. At the beginning of the week, the debris was found by hikers in southern Israel.
A complex removal, the process was made possible through advanced preparation by the Home Front Command and assistance from the IAF. During the process, the missile debris was cleared of hazardous materials, ” the IDF said in a post on Friday.
This is not the first missile discovered in the south since the attack. Similar missiles were discovered nearby in the Dead Sea area immediately after the major attack that Tehran launched against Israel, which included more than 300 suicide drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.
Weeks after Iran’s attack, Israel discovers another massive surface-to-surface missile
International
Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK
Olubunmi Abodunde, a Nigerian living in the United Kingdom, reportedly beat his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, according to the Daily Mail.
The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and frequently feuded over reported relationships and financial disagreements.
According to the news outlet, 48-year-old Abodunde had been investigated by Suffolk Police several times for domestic abuse and was scheduled to stand trial for murder, but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after the jury was sworn in.
During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of fringes’ inside the house, which Abodunde had entered despite bail restrictions imposed the day before that barred him from the residence due to another violent incident.
When they arrived 25 minutes later, they discovered Taiwo, 41, with her’skull bashed in’.
However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, cautioned him that the only conceivable penalty was life imprisonment.
Suffolk Constabulary submitted itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed that three officers were being investigated.
An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.
“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”
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Abodunde has a history of mistrust and distrust towards his wife, accusing her of having affairs. He had been probed by police several times for alleged domestic abuse episodes prior to his wife’s murder.
He was detained on April 27 of last year, when police came to the couple’s house in Newmarket, Suffolk, and discovered Mrs. Abodunde with a split lip.
Later that day, he was released on police bail with the condition that he stay away from the marital residence and avoid approaching his wife.
However, after completing a night shift at Tesco, he returned home shortly after 9 a.m. to reportedly pick up his mobile phone.
At 9.20 a.m., two cops arrived to take Mrs. Abodunde’s testimony regarding the previous night’s incident, and they heard persistent banging inside.
But it wasn’t until 9.55 a.m. that they pushed their way in with permission from senior officers and discovered Mrs. Abodunde ‘clearly dead’ near the front entrance.
A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been throttled until unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were fractured, before her husband used the skateboard to kill her off. The hits were so hard that the skateboard was ruined.
Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court that the hammering officers heard was most likely caused by Abodunde continuing to assault his wife after she was unconscious or dead.
Mrs. Abodunde worked as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, a civil engineer by training, was unable to find work and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.
Following his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to the hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode.”.
He later argued in a police statement that he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.
“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife. I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”
However, the court heard that, while he had a hand injury, no knife was found near his wife’s body.
Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the amount of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and could have been influenced by the medicine he was on. However, she stated that no medical evidence would be supplied to back her assertion.
Following the court, Suffolk Police Detective Inspector Dan Connick stated, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a long-term impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.”
“We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.
“Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends, and we hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.”
Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK
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