A Kenyan athlete, only identified as Evans, has been
captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
The athlete was captured by Ukraine’s 57th Motorized
Infantry Brigade in the Kharkiv Oblast, near the town of Vovchansk after surrendering.
In a video interview after his capture, Evans narrated that
he had gone to Russia as a tourist before he was tricked by his contact person into
joining the Russian army.
He had been in the country for two weeks as a tourist.
“I joined the Russian military not knowing I was being
recruited. I have never been in military and I have never wanted the military
job.
“I went there as a tourist and spent two weeks but after I
had one day left before I returned, the man who received me ask what I thought
of Russia and I said it was good. He asked if I would like to stay I said yes
but my visa is expired,” Evans said.
He stated that the contact person offered to help with his
visa situation and that he had a job ready for him.
“He came in the evening with documents written in Russian, I
didn’t know it was a military job. He told me to sign and took my passport and
phone and that is how everything went wrong.”
According to Evans, the people who came for him after
signing the documents were different and they drove about seven hours away
finding himself in a military camp.
His efforts to resist were met with the words “You already
signed the documents, you cannot go back. You either serve of get killed”.
He received training for just one week before he was
released to the frontline where he met others like him from other countries.
“I’m not the enemy of Ukraine. I found myself in situation I
could not get out of and I was fixed because I didn’t know what I was signing.
It messed my life,” Evans said.
Evans said was then dropped in the forest and that is when
he decided to look for the Ukrainian army personnel.
He explained that he took off the Russian military uniform
and spent two days in the forest looking for the Ukrainian defenders.
“I walked into their camp after spending two days running…
If I went back to the Russians they would have killed me.
“I walked to them with my hands raised, they tied me, took me
to their camp and they fed me, gave me water. They (Ukrainian Defenders) are
good people. In Russia they probably think I am dead,” Evans said.
According to him, he just wants to come back home to his
daughter who needs him.
Evans said he is a single parent and the daughter currently
stays with his mother.
“I'm an athlete. I have been in athletics for over 10 years.
I don't want Russia, I will die there. I have a daughter who is 16 years who stays
with my mother she is 16 years. She needs me.”
His capture comes a midst reports of Russia recruiting
unsuspecting Africans with the promise of jobs, only to end up in military
camps and later in the frontlines. Russia has always denied these claims.
