African families’ heartbreak as young men trapped on Russian battlefields

‘We are left in the lurch, without any money, any means of support, just only the scars from the war,’ a South African fighter says

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.

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.