Ugandan security agencies are investigating what they describe as a covert foreign-backed network aimed at sending former Ugandan soldiers to fight in Ukraine, with intercepted recruits directly naming the European Union and the United States Embassy in Kampala in the operation.
On Tuesday afternoon, joint security teams at Entebbe International Airport stopped nine Ugandan men — all with military backgrounds — as they prepared to board a flight to Moscow.
Investigators say the group was part of a larger pool of more than 100 recruits due to leave the country in staggered deployments beginning this week.
The scheme has been linked to an unregistered outfit calling itself MAGNIT, which operated without the knowledge or approval of the Ministry of Labour, Gender, and Social Development.
Officials say the company’s activities amount to both human trafficking and illicit labour export under Ugandan and international law.
A Russian national suspected to be a key coordinator was arrested two days earlier, and several Ugandan collaborators are in custody.
These local agents allegedly targeted ex-UPDF personnel and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, promising salaries of up to USD 6,250 per month for “security work” overseas.
However, intelligence assessments suggest that Moscow was merely a transit point, with the recruits’ actual destination being Ukraine to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the ongoing war with Russia.
One of the detained men told investigators:
“We were informed that people from the EU and U.S. Embassy were aware of our recruitment. They told us Ukraine urgently needed trained African fighters, and arrangements had already been made through those channels. They warned us not to mention Ukraine publicly.”
Impeccable security sources investigating the matter told this publication that evidence gathered so far points to direct facilitation by foreign-linked actors operating in Uganda.
“We are following leads that connect this recruitment drive to diplomatic circles. If confirmed, it will have serious implications,” one senior source said.
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The recruitment process reportedly involved forged Interpol certificates of good conduct, falsified yellow fever vaccination cards, and medical reports obtained from Kiswa Health Centre III in Bugolobi.
The Russo–Ukrainian war, now in its fourth year since February 2022, has claimed over a million lives. Critics accuse Ukraine’s Western allies of exploiting African manpower while avoiding domestic backlash over sending their own citizens to the frontlines.
Ugandan authorities say they are committed to dismantling the network and ensuring no citizen is deployed into foreign conflicts under false pretences.