Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Ghana and 46 other countries to protect their citizens from being drawn into Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23, 2026, Zelenskyy said Russia was using citizens from 47 countries in the conflict, specifically naming Ghana, Nepal, Tajikistan, India, Yemen, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Sudan and South Africa among others.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had encountered foreign nationals on the battlefield and had received requests from some countries concerning prisoners of war. He urged representatives of the affected countries to protect their citizens and prevent them from being drawn further into the conflict.
“We know that Russia uses citizens of 47 countries in its war,” Zelenskyy said, according to the official transcript of his UN address. He alleged that some foreign nationals had ended up in Russia through what he described as “deception and tricks.”
Ghana has already been dealing with the issue of its nationals being recruited for the Russia-Ukraine war. In July, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the government was investigating alleged criminal recruitment networks after 272 Ghanaian nationals were reportedly drawn into the conflict through fraudulent overseas employment schemes. At that time, 55 deaths and two Ghanaian prisoners of war had been reported.
By August, Ablakwa said the reported number of Ghanaian deaths had risen to 62, with 15 Ghanaians still missing. Ghana also appealed to Moscow to end what it described as illegal recruitment of its citizens for the war.
The Ghanaian government has said it is investigating recruitment networks and working with foreign authorities to establish the identities and welfare of affected nationals. The government has also urged Ghanaians to verify overseas employment opportunities before travelling.
The latest remarks by Zelenskyy therefore come against an already documented Ghanaian government effort to address the recruitment and trafficking of Ghanaians into the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry also addressed the recruitment and trafficking of African youth into the war during recent diplomatic discussions with Germany.
It is important to note that Zelenskyy’s statement is an allegation by the Ukrainian president about the use of citizens from 47 countries; it does not mean that the governments of all 47 countries have authorised their citizens to fight for Russia.
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