Ghana's foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, on Wednesday called on Ukraine to release two Ghanaian prisoners of war who fought against Ukrainian forces in the ranks of the Russian army, during a rare visit by an African official to Kyiv.

Mr. Ablakwa said he hoped that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would show "magnanimity and compassion, and that he would release them (...) so that we can return to Ghana with these two Ghanaians."

Alongside him, his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga stated that more than 1,780 Africans - nationals of 36 countries on the continent - are fighting against Ukraine within the Russian troops.

He accused Moscow of luring these men into the army by deceiving them and urged Accra to strengthen measures to prevent the recruitment of Africans by Russia.

"The Russians are leading Ghanaians towards certain death," Andriy Sybiga asserted.

His Ghanaian counterpart asserted that Africans joining the Russian army were "not mandated by African governments".

Ghanaians who went to war "are victims of manipulation and disinformation" by "criminal trafficking networks" who promise them "decent work" in Russia, he asserted.

"They have no background in security, no military background. They were not trained and were simply lured, then deceived and sent to the front line on the battlefield," Ablakwa said.

He thanked Ukraine for its "respect for international law" in the treatment of Ghanaian prisoners of war.

"We have received reports that they are in good health," he said, before adding: "They have not been tortured. They have not been subjected to any inhumane treatment since their capture."

In recent months, several African countries, notably Kenya and Uganda, have begun to discover the fate of their nationals recruited by the Russian army, who often end up killed or captured in Ukraine.

AFP journalists met with Kenyan, Togolese, Cameroonian and Nigerian prisoners of war during a visit in late 2025 to a Ukrainian prison for prisoners of war.

Several Kenyans interviewed by AFP after successfully returning to their country recounted encountering dozens of Africans in training camps in Russia or on the front lines, coming from Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt or South Africa.

These men claimed they were deceived by promises of well-paid civilian jobs in Russia before being forcibly conscripted into the Russian army and sent to fight in Ukraine.