{"id":95021,"date":"2025-09-20T09:49:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T09:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95021"},"modified":"2025-09-20T09:49:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T09:49:32","slug":"im-kenyan-dont-shoot-the-athlete-who-says-he-was-duped-into-the-russian-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95021","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m Kenyan, don\u2019t shoot\u2019 \u2013 the athlete who says he was duped into the Russian army"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 57 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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With tears in his eyes, a young Kenyan athlete now captive in Ukraine pleads not to be sent back to Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will die there,\u201d Evans Kibet says, waving his hands in the air towards the unseen interviewer on the video released on Wednesday by a Ukrainian army brigade.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old prisoner-of-war is wearing a red sports top. The brigade\u2019s flag is pinned up behind him.<\/p>\n

The aspiring long-distance runner says he was tricked into joining the Russian army and is desperate to go home to see his 16-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

In a Facebook post accompanying the video, the 57th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade said it was an example of how Russia treats foreign recruits but added that he had \u201cfought on the side of the enemy, so whether to believe the words and tears is up to your discretion\u201d.<\/p>\n

The brigade said the interview was filmed with Kibet\u2019s consent, but the BBC has not verified this. Though recruits from abroad in the Russian army are not unheard of, this is a rare case of a captive foreigner speaking on video.<\/p>\n

Citizens of Somalia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cuba and Sri Lanka , among others, are currently held in Ukrainian prisoner-of-war camps, Petro Yatsenko, Ukraine\u2019s spokesperson on the treatment of prisoners of war, told the BBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these individuals come from poorer countries and end up on the Russian side in different ways. Some are deceived \u2013 promised jobs at factories \u2013 while others join the war voluntarily. It is important to understand that very few are captured alive; most are either killed or seriously injured,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Back in Kenya, Kibet\u2019s family and friends are in shock over what they have seen.<\/p>\n

After a heavy sigh and a long pause, his cousin Edith Chesoi told the BBC that she had been replaying the video over and over in her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so traumatised. I didn\u2019t sleep at night. I don\u2019t even know what to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kibet\u2019s younger brother, Isaac Kipyego, described him as \u201chumble guy and a man with a few words\u201d as well as a pillar and advisor to the rest of the family.<\/p>\n

They know him as someone dedicated to his sport.<\/p>\n

Evans Kibet never made the big time but did compete in lower profile events<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI love running, I love running,\u201d Kibet says on the Ukrainian video. And it was this that may have led him to becoming an unwitting Russian recruit.<\/p>\n

Kibet had built his life around athletics, a sport that has lifted many Kenyans like him from villages to global recognition.<\/p>\n

He grew up in a farming family from the Mount Elgon area in western Kenya.<\/p>\n

Kibet trained in Iten, the high-altitude town famed for producing Olympians and world champions, but in a competitive field, he never reached that status. Instead, he competed in lesser-known 10km and half-marathon road races in Europe and Asia, according to family and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cKibet has been running since he was a child,\u201d his younger brother said. \u201cHe\u2019s always been talented. Running was his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while the sport defined his identity, it had not delivered the financial breakthrough he longed for.<\/p>\n

Friends say Kibet had been struggling financially.<\/p>\n

In March, he asked a training partner, Elias Kiptum, to help him race in Poland, but the team that was going was already full.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess that\u2019s how he ended up in Russia,\u201d Kiptum told the BBC.<\/p>\n

When, later in the year, a sports agent offered him a trip to Russia to take part in races, Kibet seized the opportunity. The BBC\u2019s calls to the agent to confirm this have not been picked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very excited when he told me he was going to race in Russia,\u201d Kibet\u2019s brother said. \u201cEven I was happy for him. We had high expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

His cousin, Ms Chesoi, who escorted him to the bus park on the first leg of the journey at the end of July, said he carried just \u201ca small-sized suitcase\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kibet told his family he would only be gone for two weeks.<\/p>\n

On the video filmed in Ukraine, Kibet says that he went to Russia as a visitor and not for a \u201cmilitary job\u201d.<\/p>\n

Then, after a fortnight, his host asked him if he would like to stay longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said: \u2018Yes, but the problem is that my visa is expired\u2019. He said: \u2018No, I can do something for you.’\u201d And then he promised Kibet a job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the evening, he came with some papers written in Russian. He told me: \u2018This is the job I want you to do.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know it was a military job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kibet says he then signed the papers and the man took his phone and passport.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that is how everything went wrong\u2026 that signing ruined my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Either you fight or we\u2019ll kill you\u2019<\/h2>\n

According to Kibet, some other people turned up and told him to get in a car. They then drove for around seven hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found myself in a military camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kibet says he was informed that he had signed up to be in the army and that he had no choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told: \u2018Either you go to fight or we\u2019ll kill you.’\u201d<\/p>\n

He says a week of basic training followed, during which he was shown how to handle an automatic rifle. None of his commanders spoke English, so instructions came through shoves and gestures.<\/p>\n

Kibet insists he never engaged in combat and then on the way to what would have been his first mission, he ditched his equipment and escaped, wandering for two days through a forest near Vovchansk in Ukraine\u2019s north-eastern Kharkiv region.<\/p>\n

He then approached some Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went there with my hands up,\u201d he says repeating the gesture for the camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said: \u2018I am a Kenyan, please don\u2019t shoot me.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone pointed their guns at me, but I told them to calm down. The commander came, they tied me. I told them: \u2018No, I am unarmed, I don\u2019t want anything. I\u2019m here to save my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Kibet\u2019s family being in shock over the video, there is some relief that he is in the hands of the Ukrainians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel that he\u2019s a bit safe [with them] rather than being in Russia,\u201d his brother Mr Kipyego said.<\/p>\n

The family is asking the Kenyan authorities to intervene. The ministry of foreign affairs has not yet responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government of his country of origin expresses interest in his repatriation, Ukraine is open to negotiations about transferring him home,\u201d Ukrainian spokesperson Mr Yatsenko said.<\/p>\n

However, speaking about other prisoners-of-war, he added that \u201cmost African states show little interest in the return of such citizens and do not wish to take them back\u201d.<\/p>\n

For Kibet\u2019s loved ones, their only priority is his safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he made a mistake, let them forgive him. We only want him back,\u201d his brother said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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