Bloomberg: Russia recruits South African citizens through online games. One mercenary has already been killed

Russia is recruiting South African citizens through the Discord app in online games – several people have already gone to fight in Russia's war against Ukraine. About reports Bloomberg, citing an unnamed source familiar with their recruitment procedure.

According to him, two South Africans in their 20s were communicating via the Discord app in the military-themed game Arma 3 with a user named @Dash. During the conversation, they discussed the possibility of joining the Russian army. The interlocutor learned about this from email correspondence, which he tried to obtain to find out their whereabouts.

According to the source, the two South Africans joined the Russian army in 2024. Before leaving for Russia, the gamers met in Cape Town and then visited the Russian consulate, according to emails and information from the source.

on July 29, they traveled to Russia via the United Arab Emirates, where they allegedly met with @Dash. In early September, they signed annual military contracts.

After a few weeks of basic training, one of the South African citizens was sent to the front line in Ukraine as an assistant gunner at a grenade launcher, as indicated in a copy of his contract. The last time he contacted his family was on October 6, and on December 17, his friend reported that he had been killed in action.

According to the source, a medical certificate received by the family of the South African citizen on June 10, 2025, states that he allegedly died in the line of duty on October 23, 2024, in the Verkhnekamianskyi district of the Luhansk region of Ukraine.

The whereabouts of the other soldier are unknown.

South Africans were also promised that they would be able to obtain Russian citizenship and continue their education after signing the contract.

The Discord app has been blocked in Russia since October 2024.

• In November 2025, Kenya announced that more than 200 of its citizens are fighting on the side of Russia in the war against Ukraine.
• december 1 in South Africa five people were detained on suspicion of recruiting people for Russia's war against Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry called on African countries stop such programs RUSSIA. The South African authorities are conducting negotiations on the return 17 recruited men.
• on December 15, Botswana announced that recruitment of its citizens into the Russian army. Ukraine reacted and called on the foreign government to be vigilant.
• on December 18, 2025, it became known that Russia had recruited more than 200 Indian citizens for the war against Ukraine. Dozens of them have already died.