A Mother's Plea for Closure

Instead of celebrating her son's birthday this month, Zimbabwean mother Rodwin Chitewere spent the day praying for his body to be brought home from Russia, where he was reportedly killed fighting Moscow's war against Ukraine. Her son, who would have turned 23, left with a cousin in April from a remote village in eastern Zimbabwe where he had been living with his grandmother. His mother, 350 kilometres away in Beitbridge, only found out when a relative spotted a change on his WhatsApp status.

Someone later contacted her from Russia to say that her son, Tanaka Muzirikazi, had been wounded in a drone attack. "We need God's grace to see if he recovers because it was bad," said the voice note shared with AFP. Then in July, the same man messaged that Muzirikazi was dead. "I just want him brought home. I need closure," said his mother, who has appealed for government help. "I want to give my son a dignified burial. I am deeply pained."

Recruiters and Official Responses

Zimbabwe's foreign ministry told the family in July it had referred their request for his repatriation to its embassy in Russia. Five suspected recruitment agents are on trial in the country on human trafficking charges. The month before Muzirikazi left, Zimbabwe announced 15 nationals had been killed on "foreign battlefields". More than 60 others remained trapped on the front lines, it said in March.

'Not Our War'

Dylan Goodho, Muzirikazi's cousin, also left with him. His mother, Fadzai Chikove, pleaded for him to come back, saying "You cannot be fighting a war that is not ours." His father, an artisanal miner, had proudly helped the 23-year-old prepare for the trip, believing he was going to work as a car import agent in Tanzania. "It looked like a genuine opportunity," said Vharance Goodho, who borrowed money for police clearance certificates, medical examinations and other expenses. It was only after Dylan arrived in Russia that he let the family know he was a soldier. He sent home $1,500 and said he was shipping back a vehicle; they last heard from him in May.

Regional Toll and Testimonies

In mid-February, the All Eyes on Wagner collective published names of more than 1,400 Africans it said Moscow had recruited between January 2023 and September 2025; more than 300 had died. South Africa announced in February that at least two citizens had died fighting in Russia and 15 were repatriated. A Ukraine government site said 10 South Africans had died.

A South African who returned from the front line said he had "never been so afraid". Another, also in his 20s, said he was promised trauma counselling but only received two sessions with a psychologist. A South African woman said her husband lost a leg after a drone hit his convoy on the front line.

Botswana: 'Alarming' Recruitment

In Botswana, the government said in July an "alarming" number of men were being misled into joining the war. A mother in Botswana has not heard from her 20-year-old son for nearly a year since he went to Russia in July last year. She believes her son and his friend were duped by the daughter of ex-president Jacob Zuma under the pretext of attending a personal development course in Russia. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla resigned as a parliamentarian in December after police said they were investigating claims she lured men to the Russian war. The mother wants justice: "I want that woman to be tried."