00:00This secret location in Ukraine holds Russian prisoners of war, captured on the front line.
00:11The soldiers are resigned to a life of monotony.
00:15But not everyone here is Russian.
00:17The prison is holding dozens of African men.
00:20Many of them say they were scammed into fighting for the Kremlin cause.
00:24I want to go home. I want to see my family.
00:27I didn't know what I was going there.
00:30So you were tricked into fighting?
00:32Yeah, yeah.
00:34This is one of five prisoner of war camps in Ukraine.
00:38The Ukrainian government granted us access because it argues its POWs are being treated humanely.
00:44The men held here are currency in future prisoner swaps.
00:48Rooms are warm but basic. The common area is cold and silent.
00:53Evans Kibitz says he had no intention of fighting.
00:59He was once a promising middle distance runner in Kenya, but it wasn't paying the bills.
01:04This running was not paying me. It was not giving me money.
01:09And also I wanted to support my family.
01:12Evans says he was lured there by a fellow Kenyan working on behalf of Moscow,
01:16who told him he'd be paid for doing what he loved.
01:20And he told you that there was a festival?
01:23Yeah.
01:24Where you could go and compete?
01:25Yeah.
01:26They told me that after the event they would give me some allowance.
01:31Do you remember how much it was?
01:33No, they didn't mention.
01:35So, if you didn't know how much money you were making, why did you want to go to Russia?
01:42For me, it was like they pay everything. I don't have to pay anything. Then I have...
01:51It was like, OK, let me go and visit.
01:54After arriving in St Petersburg, he says he was tricked into signing a military contract
02:00that was entirely in Russian.
02:02I guess some people might be curious as to why you signed a contract and you didn't...
02:09you weren't able to read it.
02:11I trusted this man.
02:14After a week of training, he was sent to the front line.
02:17Bones, rockets. You wait for you are dead.
02:24How were you captured by Ukrainian soldiers?
02:28I surrendered myself.
02:35The Kenyan government believes 200 of its citizens are fighting in Russia.
02:43It's asked Ukraine to release all of the Kenyan citizens in its custody.
02:47Why doesn't the Ukrainian government just release them and send them back to their home country?
02:53The Ukrainian side and Ukraine is very open to any negotiations with any government.
03:00But it's not just Kenyans being drawn in. Ukraine estimates more than 1,400 Africans from 36 countries are currently fighting for Russia.
03:09Atam is from Cameroon, where he worked as a maths teacher.
03:13He made the journey after being offered a job opportunity that he thought would better support his family.
03:19Did you know that you'd end up fighting?
03:21No.
03:22He's now desperate to go home.
03:25My wife, my mother, everybody. I want to see them.
03:29What we discovered in there was something more complicated than I expected.
03:33There really is a mix.
03:35There's people who say they were tricked into fighting for Russia.
03:39But then there's people who say they went voluntarily.
03:41They were effectively mercenaries.
03:43But almost all of them feel that they've made a mistake.
03:46And now they just desperately want to go home.
03:50But for now, these men are resigned to a life inside.
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