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South Africa Efforts continue to return men 'tricked' into war
The Guardian
|December 17, 2025
South Africa’s government is in talks with Russia to bring home 17 South African men fighting for Russia in Ukraine, after the men were allegedly tricked on to the frontlines of the war by a daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has been accused in multiple lawsuits of luring the 17 South African and two Botswanan men to Russia in July by telling them they would be training as bodyguards for her father’s uMkhonto weSizwe political party or attending a personal development course.
Vincent Magwenya, a spokesperson for South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said: “The process to retrieve those young men remains a very sensitive process. They are in a dangerous environment ... We are still in discussions with various authorities, both in Russia as well as in Ukraine, to see how we can free them from the situation.
This story is from the December 17, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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