Grieving families in Zimbabwe are appealing for help and closure after their sons and husbands were recruited—often under false pretences—into Russia’s war against Ukraine. The cross-border recruitment scheme has left a trail of uncertainty across southern Africa, with loved ones missing, injured or dead.
Zimbabwe mother waits to bury her son
Rodwin Chitewere, from Beitbridge, learned her son Tanaka Muzirikazi had travelled to Russia only after a relative noticed a change in his WhatsApp status. Muzirikazi, who would have turned 23 this month, left his village in eastern Zimbabwe with his cousin Dylan Goodho in April.
Shortly after the departure, someone in Russia told the family that Muzirikazi had been injured in a drone attack. A follow-up message in July confirmed the worst: he had died. Chitewere said she needs closure and wants to give her son a dignified burial.
Zimbabwe’s foreign ministry has already forwarded the family’s request for repatriation to the country’s embassy in Russia, but the body has yet to be brought home.
Father thought son was heading to Tanzania for work
Dylan Goodho’s father, Vharance, believed his 23-year-old son was leaving for a car import agent job in Tanzania. He borrowed money to pay for police clearance certificates and medical checks, describing the opportunity as genuine at the time.
Only after reaching Russia did Dylan tell his family he had become a soldier. He sent $1,500 home and promised to send a vehicle, but the family has not heard from him since May. His mother, Fadzai Chikove, has made a direct appeal for him to return, saying he cannot fight a war that does not belong to him.
Recruitment network spans southern Africa
The same pattern has emerged in South Africa, where the government has confirmed at least two deaths among nationals fighting in Russia and 15 returnees in February alone. One returnee described the terror of hearing drones and bombs for the first time with no military training. Another said promised trauma counselling never materialised.
In Botswana, a mother has spent nearly a year without news of her 20-year-old son who left with a friend in July last year. She believes the two men were misled by Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, under the pretext of a personal development course in Russia. Zuma-Sambudla resigned as a parliamentarian in December after police announced an investigation into allegations she lured men to the war.
Zimbabwean authorities say five suspected recruitment agents are now facing human trafficking charges. In March, the government reported that 15 Zimbabweans had died on foreign battlefields and more than 60 remained on the front lines.
Continental scale of the problem
The cases are part of a larger recruitment drive. In February, the All Eyes on Wagner collective published the names of more than 1,400 Africans it says Moscow recruited between January 2023 and September 2025. According to the group, more than 300 of those recruits have died.
As recruitment efforts continue, families across Zimbabwe and the region are left with grief, unanswered questions and the hope that their loved ones will come home.