NAIROBI, Kenya—At least 84 Kenyans linked to the Russia-Ukraine war have been listed as killed or missing in action, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has told the Senate.
Mudavadi said the government had records of 354 Kenyans involved in the conflict, with 77 still on the frontline, 38 in military camps and 52 listed as being in unknown or unclassified locations.
Another 34 Kenyans are hospitalised, 62 have been repatriated, five are prisoners of war in Ukraine, while one is in detention and another has completed a military contract.
Mudavadi gave the figures on Thursday, October 8, when he appeared before a joint Senate committee investigating the recruitment of Kenyans into the Russian military and the detention of Kenyan nationals in Ukraine.
The government figures were, however, challenged by petitioners who told the committee that 841 Kenyans remained unaccounted for, raising questions over the scale of Kenyan involvement in the conflict.
Mudavadi said the government uses the classification “missing in action” because it has not been able to establish whether some Kenyans reported missing are alive or dead.
“It’s because we cannot verify whether the person is dead or not. So we have to use the term missing in action,” he told senators.
He said efforts to trace some of the affected Kenyans had been complicated by the fact that some travelled to Russia without informing their families or the Kenyan government.
“Some of the people that we are dealing with left even without informing their own families where they were going, let alone informing the government of Kenya,” Mudavadi said.
“We are chasing after the event. These are the painful truths. But they are our citizens, we still have to look for them.”
Mudavadi said Kenya does not have the military capacity to enter the Russia-Ukraine war zone and conduct rescue operations, leaving diplomatic engagement as the main avenue for securing the safety and return of affected citizens.
“Kenya does not have the capacity, militarily, to enter into a war zone, in Russia or Ukraine. So Kenya has got to use diplomatic channels. It’s the only way,” he said.
The government is engaging both Russian and Ukrainian authorities over Kenyans caught up in the conflict, including efforts to have Kenyan prisoners of war included in any future prisoner exchanges.
Mudavadi said five Kenyans are currently being held as prisoners of war in Ukraine, with Kenya pursuing diplomatic channels to secure their release.
He also said Kenyans who escape the conflict and reach the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow are provided with food and accommodation as arrangements are made for their return home.
According to Mudavadi, some Kenyans entered private contracts with Russian entities before ending up in military service, agreements in which the Kenyan government was not a party.
He reminded the committee that Kenyan law prohibits citizens from enlisting in the armed forces of a foreign government without presidential consent.
However, Mudavadi said the government’s immediate priority was to help Kenyans caught up in the war return home rather than pursue possible criminal cases arising from their recruitment.
“Our mission is to help as many Kenyans as possible, who may be on the front lines, to come back home,” he said.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary also disclosed that Kenya has no dedicated fund for rescuing and repatriating citizens caught up in foreign conflicts.
He said the government was considering a legal framework that would establish a welfare fund to finance such interventions in future, subject to parliamentary approval.
The Senate inquiry comes amid growing concern over the recruitment of Kenyans into the Russian military and reports of citizens being killed, detained, wounded or otherwise caught up in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
