Southern African mothers plead for sons lured to Russia's war

Instead of celebrating her son's birthday this month, Zimbabwean mother Rodwin Chitewere spent the day praying for his body to be brought home from Russia, where he was reportedly killed fighting Moscow's war against Ukraine.

In Botswana and South Africa, too, women are desperate for sons and husbands to return from a conflict many say they were duped into joining, as authorities warn recruiters are still active.

Chitewere's son, who would have turned 23, left with a cousin in April from a remote village in eastern Zimbabwe where he had been living with his grandmother.

His mother -- 350 kilometres (220 miles) away in Beitbridge -- only found out when a relative spotted a change on his WhatsApp status.

Someone later contacted her from Russia to say that her son, Tanaka Muzirikazi, had been wounded in a drone attack.

"We need God's grace to see if he recovers because it was bad," said the voice note shared with AFP.

Then in July, the same man messaged that Muzirikazi was dead.

"I just want him brought home. I need closure," said his mother, who has appealed for government help. "I want to give my son a dignified burial. I am deeply pained."

Zimbabwe's foreign ministry told the family in July it had referred their request for his repatriation to its embassy in Russia.

Five suspected recruitment agents are on trial in the country on human trafficking charges.

The month before Muzirikazi left with his cousin Dylan Goodho, Zimbabwe announced 15 nationals had been killed on "foreign battlefields".

More than 60 others remained trapped on the front lines, it said in March. 

"Dylan, if you ever hear this message, please come back home. You cannot be fighting a war that is not ours," said his mother, Fadzai Chikove.

His father, an artisanal miner, had proudly helped the 23-year-old prepare for the trip, believing he was going to work as a car import agent in Tanzania.

"It looked like a genuine opportunity," said Vharance Goodho, who borrowed money for police clearance certificates, medical examinations and other expenses.

It was only after Dylan arrived in Russia that he let the family know he was a soldier.

He sent home $1,500 and said he was shipping back a vehicle, Goodho said. They last heard from him in May.

Like many Zimbabweans facing bleak economic prospects at home, the cousins were chasing better opportunities, in a story echoed across the continent.

In mid-February, the All Eyes on Wagner collective published the names of more than 1,400 Africans it said Moscow had recruited between January 2023 and September 2025. More than 300 had died, it said.

South Africa announced in February at least two citizens had died fighting in Russia and 15 were repatriated the same month, although others remained there.

A Ukraine government site working to stop Russian recruiters said last month that 10 South Africans had died.

One South African returnee, who had no military experience before being thrust into the war, told AFP he had "never been so afraid". "All of a sudden you see and hear bombs, drones flying overhead," he said.

Another, also in his 20s, said he was promised trauma counselling but only had two sessions with a psychologist.

"We are left in the lurch, without any money, any means of support, just only the scars from the war," he said.

A South African woman said on condition of anonymity that her husband lost a leg after a drone hit his convoy on the front line, and she hoped he would be home in the coming months. 

In Botswana -- where the government said in July an "alarming" number of men were being misled into joining the war -- another mother has not heard from her 20-year-old son for nearly a year.

He and a friend went to Russia in July last year. "I don't know if they are alive or not," she said on condition of anonymity.

She believed they were duped by the daughter of ex-president Jacob Zuma under the pretext of attending a personal development course in Russia.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla resigned as a parliamentarian in December after police said they were investigating claims she lured men to the Russian war. AFP was unable to reach her for comment.

"I just want my child back home," said the mother, who has been writing to the South African government for help.

She also wants justice. "We were raised with, 'It's an eye for an eye'. So now I want that woman to be tried," she said.