Ruto Secures Russian Pledge to Compensate Kenyans Recruited Into Its Military, With No Amounts YetRuto Secures Russian Pledge to Compensate Kenyans Recruited Into Its Military, With No Amounts Yet

The pledge matters to families who have waited for answers and to job-seekers weighing offers abroad. It follows a Journalists for Justice investigation earlier this month that counted at least 76 Kenyans killed fighting for Russia, among 841 Kenyans recruited between October 2022 and June 2026.

What Ruto announced

Mr Ruto said Kenya has appointed a Defence Attaché in Moscow who will work with Russia's Ministry of Defence to process compensation for Kenyans and help them return home safely, as reported after the Kremlin talks that followed the Russia-Africa summit.

He said Mr Putin confirmed that Kenyans will no longer be enlisted, because Kenya has been categorised as a non-source country for recruitment into the Russian military. The reports do not say how the status will be enforced or whether it covers Kenyans already in Russia on other visas.

What is still missing

No compensation figures have been given. Eligibility, the claims process and a timetable are also unstated, and Mwenendo has not seen a written agreement. The Journalists for Justice findings show the scale of the task: at least 3,066 Africans from 40 countries were recruited, with 502 confirmed deaths by June 2026, and Kenya had the most identified recruits.

Some recruits were promised civilian security or logistics jobs and then required to sign military contracts on arrival, according to the investigation. The National Intelligence Service told Parliament that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited, a figure above the 841 the investigators identified.

Jobs, scholarships and a labour agreement

The leaders also discussed a bilateral labour agreement that would let Kenyans live and work in Russia, and cooperation in transport, employment and diplomatic training. Russian scholarships for Kenyan students would rise from 70 to 300, Mr Ruto said.

A formal labour agreement would matter because it would give recruitment agencies and workers a legal route with set contracts, rather than the informal offers that led some Kenyans into combat. Overseas work already feeds the economy: as Mwenendo earlier reported, September remittances reached KSh 56.92B ($438.5M), up 4.5% from a year earlier.

Visit and wider ties

Mr Ruto invited Mr Putin to visit Kenya, which would be his first official visit to the country and his first to Africa since 2018. It is unclear whether the invitation was accepted. Mr Putin also committed to support expansion of the UN Office in Nairobi.

For readers, the test is practical. As Mwenendo also reported, Kenya's diaspora transfers depend on safe, lawful work abroad, and the compensation process will show whether Moscow honours the pledge in cash and in writing.

Families say an earlier no-recruitment pledge in March was not kept, so the details published in the coming weeks will carry more weight than the announcement.