- A Nairobi mother is living in anguish after her only son, who travelled to Russia for a promised engineering job, disappeared months later
- Disturbing videos suggest he may have been coerced into joining the army in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The distressed woman identified as Anne Ndarua is now appealing to both the Kenyan and Russian governments to intervene
Nairobi — Six months ago, Francis Ndung’u Ndarua left their home on the outskirts of Nairobi for Russia, lured by the promise of work as an electrical engineer.
Source: UGC
Since October 2025, his mother, Anne Ndarua has not heard from him. She no longer knows whether he is alive.
When did Francis release his first video?
CNN reports that Anne’s heart sunk in December 2025 when a video circulated showing Francis urging fellow Africans not to travel to Russia for job offers.
He issued a warning that many are coerced into military service and sent to the front lines despite having no prior training.
“Many friends have died in the name of money,” he says in the clip sent from an unknown Kenyan number.
For Anne, it was the first sign that her son’s dream of employment had turned into a nightmare, and it was already too late to undo the damage.
Anne appeals for help from authorities
Days later, another video spread rapidly across social media, deepening her anguish. Francis appears in uniform, visibly frightened, as a Russian speaker makes demeaning remarks and threatens to use him in combat.
Anne’s voice falters as she discloses she could not bring herself to watch it; her daughter described the footage instead.
“It’s so traumatising,” she said, explaining that she agreed to speak publicly only as a last resort, hoping to spur action from both the Kenyan and Russian authorities.
She appealed to the Kenyan and Russian governments to work together to bring those children home, adding that they lied to them about real jobs and now they’re in war with their lives in danger.
Source: UGC
How much did Francis pay?
Francis had been unemployed and living with his mother before he left Kenya after paying about $620 (KSh 80,000) to an agent who promised to secure the overseas opportunity.
Anne recalls her shock when her son later told the family he was being forced into military training soon after arriving in Russia.
According to her, the 35-year-old was deployed to Ukraine after just three weeks of basic instruction.
Now, as days stretch into months without word, Anne waits in a state of painful uncertainty, clinging to the hope that by sharing her son’s story, someone, somewhere, will help bring him home.
How Kenyans are lured into Russia
Francis is among the hundreds of Kenyan men who were lured into Russia with the promise of legitimate jobs, only to end up in the army.
Most are promised over KSh 3 million in salaries, a figure that gives them the false hope that their sacrifice would be rewarded within months.
However, they learn, albeit too late, that they are another statistic to a ruthless recruitment pipeline that turns poverty into profit through providing labour for a distant war.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
