Botswana Architect Andrew Duped Into Fighting for Russia, Reports Daily Maverick

An architect from Botswana survived deployment on the front line of the war in eastern Ukraine after being duped by a recruitment scam, Daily Maverick reported.

Andrew, whose name was changed to protect his privacy, encountered an online pop-up advertisement in October 2025 promising well-paying driving work in Poland, the US, and Canada.

The recruitment process moved rapidly after he expressed interest in a driving position based in Poland. An agent calling himself Rob persisted with contact despite initial caution from the architect.

The offer promised a $20,000 settlement payment, a $3,000 monthly salary under Polish government auspices, and citizenship after six months. A Qatar Airways ticket to Doha arrived shortly after, with promises that the connecting leg would follow.

In Doha, handlers instructed Andrew to photograph his arrival, citing security concerns stemming from a conflict between the US and Iran as the reason to transit through Moscow. Upon landing in Moscow, communication with Rob ceased entirely.

A non-English-speaking stranger met him at the airport, checked the photograph taken in Qatar, and directed him to a different airport. Officials handed him Russian-language forms containing his Qatar photograph, claiming the documents would legalize his stay while he awaited a flight to Poland.

Instead of flying to Poland, transport vehicles moved him southeast into the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. A stark boarding facility with bunk beds housed him alongside foreign nationals from Colombia, Bangladesh, and Cambodia who had fallen for identical schemes.

Guards transported the group by bus to Rostov at night, transferring them to a military truck that reached the vicinity of bunkers and dugouts by early morning. Camp authorities issued military trousers, jackets, and T-shirts before commencing a three-day training program.

Squads of two recruits paired with a Russian soldier then moved toward the front line under overhead drone surveillance.

A guy came and said we were going to Rostov, closer to the Ukraine border, Andrew told Daily Maverick regarding the deployment.

Assigned roles required the recruits to act as human pathfinders, walking toward Ukrainian positions to draw fire and establish safe routes for regular forces. They just need a body, which is going to wear a uniform and open the way for their soldiers to make it look like they are still fighting, he stated.

During the advance, a fellow recruit walking behind him faltered with a bad leg and suffered a summary execution by gunshot. Navigating past decomposing bodies and buzzing drones, Andrew eventually reached Ukrainian troops and surrendered.

There are dead bodies there. Black bodies. You ask yourself, where does it come from? he said. Russia is actually making you fodder. You are just worms. You are not the fish. They are actually killing people. From my country, I heard that I was the 18th guy to come. But I’m the only person who survived this. Everyone disappeared.

Authors Ray Hartley and Greg Mills, custodians of the Platform for African Democrats alongside Terry Lester, dean of St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, documented the account during a study tour visit to a Ukrainian prisoner-of-war facility outside Lviv in September 2026. Andrew issued a direct warning based on his ordeal: Don’t even think about going to Russia.