Southern African families say sons were lured to Russia war

Families in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa are pleading for sons and husbands to return from Russia's war against Ukraine, saying some men were misled into joining as authorities warn recruiters remain active.

Zimbabwean mother Rodwin Chitewere said her son, Tanaka Muzirikazi, left with a cousin in April from a village in eastern Zimbabwe. She said a man later contacted her from Russia to say Muzirikazi had been wounded in a drone attack, then messaged in July to say he had died.

Chitewere has asked Zimbabwe's government for help bringing his body home. Zimbabwe's foreign ministry told the family in July that it had referred the repatriation request to its embassy in Russia.

Five suspected recruitment agents are on trial in Zimbabwe on human trafficking charges. In March, Zimbabwe said 15 of its nationals had been killed on foreign battlefields and more than 60 others remained trapped on front lines.

The family of Muzirikazi's cousin Dylan Goodho said they believed he was going to work as a car import agent in Tanzania. His father said Goodho later told the family from Russia that he was a soldier. The family said they last heard from him in May.

South Africa said in February that at least two citizens had died fighting in Russia and that 15 were repatriated that month, while others remained there. A Ukrainian government site working to stop Russian recruiters said last month that 10 South Africans had died.

In Botswana, where the government said in July that an alarming number of men were being misled into joining the war, a mother said she had not heard from her 20-year-old son for nearly a year after he travelled to Russia.

She said she believed her son was duped by Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma, under the pretext of attending a personal development course. Zuma-Sambudla resigned as a parliamentarian in December after police said they were investigating claims that she lured men to the Russian war.