Human trafficking networks hiring fighters for Russian army change tactics

Samuel Maina, Ex Kenya Airforce pilot In past photos.He now serves in Russia's war against Ukraine. [Courtesy, Standard]

Ayub Ibrahim was so eager to travel to Russia that I could feel the enthusiasm in his text messages when he informed me that he had finally made it to Kampala, Uganda, and was waiting for his traffickers to send him a plane ticket to Istanbul, Turkey, where he would catch a connecting flight to Moscow.

“They are paying for everything,” he sent me a text one Tuesday morning on Telegram. He quickly followed the text with a video showing his hotel room, a plate full of fried eggs plus buttered bread that he was having for breakfast.