Ghana negotiates Ukrainian drone deals as 1,780 Africans fight—and die—in Russia’s ranks

Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa arrived in Kyiv on 25 February for the first standalone visit by an African foreign minister since Russia’s full-scale invasion began four years ago.

Ghana is one of West Africa’s largest economies and one of Africa's most stable democracies, with a GDP of around $88 billion.

The visit came one day after Ghana voted for Ukraine’s peace resolution at the UN General Assembly, which passed with 107 votes despite a US attempt to strip references to Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

“We remain committed to the UN Charter and support the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We cannot tolerate any attempts to undermine the sovereignty of states,” Ablakwa said during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

But Ablakwa didn’t come only to talk principles. He asked Zelenskyy to release two Ghanaian prisoners of war captured while fighting for Russia—victims, he said, of “manipulation, disinformation, and criminal trafficking networks.”

President Zelenskyy confirmed that 272 Ghanaians are currently in Russian ranks, part of more than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries fighting for Moscow. Foreign Minister Sybiha called the recruitment “fraudulent schemes” that condemn African citizens to death. Ukraine offered Ghanaian diplomats consular access to the captured citizens and said it would discuss their return.

Russia’s recruitment creates backlash

For years, Moscow invested in cultivating African loyalty—expanding the Russian Orthodox Church to at least 34 African countries, opening cultural centers, tripling student scholarships, and launching Sputnik bureaus. African support for Ukraine at the UN General Assembly collapsed from 28 countries in March 2022 to just 10 by February 2025.

Then the body bags started arriving. South Africa repatriated men lured under promises of security training who ended up in trenches. Kenya discovered over 1,000 of its citizens had been recruited—five times the original estimate—and shut down more than 600 illegal recruitment agencies. Families in Nairobi protested with signs reading “Bring our son back.”

The backlash has forced a quiet retreat. According to the Russian investigative outlet Important Stories, Moscow issued a “stop list” banning recruitment from 43 countries—including many of its own allies such as China, India, Cuba, and multiple African nations. Citizens of blacklisted countries accounted for 37% of the roughly 10,000 foreign mercenaries recruited by autumn 2025.

Ghana positions itself as Africa’s counterweight

Ghana’s Kyiv visit was about more than two prisoners. Ablakwa and Sybiha discussed a defense cooperation agreement—the two countries’ first—with negotiations already underway at the technical level.

Ghana is interested in Ukrainian drone technology for border surveillance—an interest Zelenskyy first announced after a call with President Mahama in July 2025, when the Ghanaian president offered to finance Ukrainian drone production.

Ghana’s defense budget has grown to over $500 million, and its northern frontier with Burkina Faso, where Russia’s Africa Corps operates, is a growing security concern. A presidential summit—Zelenskyy visiting Accra or Mahama visiting Kyiv—is expected to finalize the deal.

Ghana will chair the African Union next year, and Ablakwa pledged to use that platform to raise awareness about trafficking networks that recruit for Russia’s army. Ghana borders Burkina Faso, one of Russia’s closest African military partners.

The two sides also discussed agricultural cooperation—including a food logistics hub in Ghana that could position the country as a distribution point for Ukrainian grain exports to West Africa—and expanding educational programs for Ghanaian students at Ukrainian universities. The kind of partnership Russia once monopolized across the continent.