Alabuga SEZ: Russia’s Covert Recruitment Tactics in Cameroon
By Hans Ngala
As Russia’s war with Ukraine enters its fourth year in 2026, Africans continue paying the prize with their lives. While Russia has often been accused of using “propaganda” to recruit Africans to fight in its war with Ukraine, the picture is a lot more complicated than that.
Dire economic realities in Cameroon where more than half the population of 30 million, live on less than $100 USD monthly. These harsh realities make both Western countries and Russia enticing to desperate Cameroonians. Before Trump’s immigration crackdown, the US was also a preferred destination for Cameroonian emigrants. Now, Russia is just as enticing.
In August 2025, during a CNA investigation, two young Cameroonian girls who were on their way to Russia were identified and contacted. Neither of the girls was willing to discuss the details of their trip to Russia but one did open up, saying she was going to study and wouldn’t say anything more than that.
CNA enquired from her if she had heard about the girls from African countries forced to work in Russian drone factories – risking their lives and exposing themselves to corrosive elements. The girl simply said she was going to Russia and “nothing would stop me”.
Similarly, Toh Clement, an influential Cameroonian social media celebrity warned on his Facebook page: “Please and please, dear Cameroonians, if you have any plans to travel to Russia, be it as a student or for work, please cancel it! Let no one fool you, agents will sweettalk you but don’t fall for it” Toh wrote. “Russia has no work for black people at the moment and you are highly likely to be forced to join the war against Ukraine and there is a higher probability of you not surviving” he added.
Comments on Toh’s post ranged from indifference to some expressing the desire to travel Russia regardless, because “dying in Russia is more honourable than dying in Cameroon”.
The recruitments to travel to Russia are masterminded by a network of agents who sell the idea of working under the Alabuga SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in Russia. According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime “The Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), located in the Republic of Tatarstan in south-west Russia, plays a major role in Russia’s war economy. Thousands of attack and reconnaissance drones are produced at the site for use by the Russian military”, adding that “Reports in 2023 by independent Russian and Western media raised concerns about exploitative aspects of a recruitment programme connected to the SEZ, known as Alabuga Start. This programme has reportedly relied on underage students from Alabuga Polytech and young migrant women from across the globe to staff its drone production facilities”.
The two Cameroonian girls identified by CNA in August 2025, were likely being recruited by the Alabuga Start program and were likely to end up building drones for Russia in the Alabuga SEZ.
That same month of August 2025, CNA ran a story titled “The Cameroonians Dying in Russia’s War: The Story of Dongmo Brice” in which we detailed how 35-year-old Dongmo Brice from Cameroon’s capital Yaounde, flew to Russia on a student visa but later joined the Russian army where he was killed on the frontlines. Dongmo died in 2024 and even at the time of writing this report, his family was still without any knowledge of his corpse and had not received any communication from Russian authorities on the matter as well.
When we ran Dongmo’s story on CNA, comments were similar to those on the post made by Toh Clement.
“For those who think Russia is a safe haven for black just think again many years ago most Africans on social media were saying Russia is the best choice for Africa” read one comment.
“We have Cameroonians in the US and British army, so what’s the issue. He is just so unfortunate,” said another. While another said “Yes it’s better than to die for Cameroon who have enslave their own citizens”.
The reactions show that Cameroonians remain largely indifferent to Russia’s political ideals and are going to Russia more for their own economic benefit than for ideological reasons. Even so, Cameroonian authorities are noticing the danger and are trying their best to dissuade defections by Cameroonian army officers or civilians.
CNA reached out to Col. Cyril Serge Atonfack, spokesman for the Cameroon Army but Atonfack did not respond to our calls nor return them. However, in a January 10 editorial cited by our sister newsroom MMI News, Atonfack wrote: ““Trafficking networks are forming everywhere, draining our youth of their vitality. Eager for heroism and easy gains—both of which remain largely illusory—they are falling into the trap.”
Part of this trap is covert Russian actors, most of whom function as agents posing as recruiting Cameroonian students to study in Russia.
A number of these agents identified in Cameroon by CNA declined our calls for comment.
Beyond Cameroon – Russia’s Continental Reach
The appeal of Russia goes beyond just Cameroon. It is a continent-wide phenomenon.
In December 2025, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma, was accused of luring 17 men into fighting for Russia. The national scandal which the news of her involvement generated, led to the 43-year-old Zuma-Sambudla resigning from her position in South Africa’s parliament.
As far as Madagascar where a military coup toppled President Andry Rajoelina, the country has also turned to Russia. A report by “Midi Madagasikara”, one of the island country’s leading newspapers “According to a statement from the Presidency of the Refoundation, Madagascar has received military equipment supplied by Russia. A Russian delegation has arrived to provide training and technical support to the Malagasy armed forces on the use of this equipment” the report said.
“The training, which begins today (January 14, 2026), is organized into several categories and involves different units based in Antananarivo. The statement recalls that most of the military equipment used in Madagascar to date has already come from Russia, with the Kalashnikov rifle being the most widespread example since the era of the Soviet Union and the Second Republic” a second part read.
While Russia is recruiting Africans to fight on her behalf, Ukraine was also accused of blocking Africans trying to flee. Ukrainian forces reportedly blocked
“In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many African students and other groups experienced shock mobility – panicked flight from the war zone – as well as shock immobility, as they were prevented from fleeing Ukraine due to racial discrimination” the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology wrote in a June 2022 report. The report quoted some African migrants alleging that they were also forced to pick up arms and fight on behalf of Ukraine.
However, while there are allegations of Africans also fighting on the Ukrainian side, CNA is unable to independently verify these claims.
What is certain is that Russia has been effective in its messaging and appeal to a younger generation where frustrations with the West are rising. While this shift does not necessarily reflect a hatred for the West, but rather a desire to work with new partners; it is also an opportunity for the West to re-evaluate how it engages with post-colonial African states.
