Accra, Ghana – The Russian Embassy in Ghana has rejected allegations that Moscow is using deceptive tactics to recruit Ghanaian citizens and other Africans into its military, describing a billboard campaign in Accra as a politically motivated attempt to damage relations between the two countries.
The statement follows the appearance of billboards carrying the slogans ‘I want to live’ and ‘I want to find’ on streets across the Ghanaian capital in late October 2026. The campaign is linked to the website StopRussianRecruiters.org, which the Russian Embassy has accused of operating as an instrument of Ukrainian government propaganda.
According to the embassy, the website is neither an independent human rights initiative nor a humanitarian organisation, but was established and is managed by Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Russian diplomatic mission said the campaign was designed to undermine Moscow’s standing in Africa by spreading allegations that African nationals, including Ghanaians, were being deceived into signing military service contracts in Russia.
“The Russian side has never used, nor does it use, deceptive schemes to recruit foreign nationals into military service,” the embassy stated, adding that no convincing and verifiable evidence supporting the allegations had been presented by any authoritative international organisation.
The embassy also questioned the timing of the campaign, arguing that it had lost its relevance following Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama’s visit to Russia and his discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
During the meeting, according to the Russian statement, Moscow provided assurances at the highest diplomatic level that Ghanaian citizens would not serve in the Russian military under contractual arrangements.
The embassy consequently described the continued display of the billboards as a “belated and malicious provocation” intended to mislead the Ghanaian public and weaken the longstanding relationship between Accra and Moscow.
It also turned its criticism towards Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of engaging in foreign military recruitment while publicly accusing Russia of employing fraudulent recruitment practices.
The Russian Embassy cited an article published on 8 October 2026 by Ghanaian news website YEN.com.gh, which reported that Ukraine had advertised nine military positions open to foreign nationals.
The vacancies reportedly included platoon commander, first-person-view (FPV) drone operator and other military roles. The article is available at https://yen.com.gh/people/313437-ukraine-lists-9-military-jobs-open-foreign-nationals-shares-available-vacancies/.
The embassy further alleged that similar recruitment advertisements had been distributed through other platforms, including official communication channels belonging to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.
It described the practice as evidence of what it called hypocrisy by the Ukrainian government, arguing that Kyiv was simultaneously accusing Russia of fraudulent recruitment while openly seeking foreign nationals, including Africans, for military service.
Citing information it attributed to Russian security agencies, the embassy claimed that more than 20,000 foreign mercenaries were currently fighting alongside Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It further alleged that foreign recruits were being exposed to deadly combat conditions and used as “cannon fodder” in the interests of Ukraine’s Western partners.
The Russian diplomatic mission urged Ghanaians to approach the billboard campaign and related allegations with caution, calling on the public to scrutinise information circulated by organisations it says are affiliated with Ukrainian state institutions.
“Russia remains a consistent and reliable partner of Ghana, committed to the steady development of bilateral relations based on mutual respect and trust,” the statement said.
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