CaliToday (08/12/2025): The promise was simple: a security job, a high salary, and a chance to escape economic hardship. But for David Kuloba, a hopeful migrant from Kenya, that promise became a death sentence in the freezing trenches of Ukraine.
His story is a harrowing example of a growing trend where unsuspecting men from the Global South are recruited into Russia’s war machine under false pretenses.
A Mother’s Plea and a Contractual Trap
The tragedy of David Kuloba is best summarized by the desperate final conversations he had with his mother, Susan Kuloba. Realizing the danger her son was in, she begged him to abandon the mission.
"I told him: 'David, please, just leave that place.' He told me: 'How can I leave? I signed a contract. Give me at least one year.'"
David felt trapped not by the physical borders, but by the legal and financial shackles of the contract he had signed—a piece of paper that traded his freedom for service to the Russian state.
From Security Guard to Soldier
David had traveled to Russia responding to an employment advertisement seeking security personnel. It is a common lure used by recruiters targeting nations facing high unemployment rates. However, upon arrival, the reality shifted dramatically.
According to his mother, the deception was revealed slowly.
"He told me: 'Mom, the job they originally told us about has changed, but the new work isn't too bad.'"
This "new work" was not guarding a building or a warehouse. David and a group of other Kenyan men were thrust into military boot camp. He revealed to his mother that they received only two weeks of combat training before being deployed directly to the "Special Military Operation" zone in Ukraine a conflict characterized by high-intensity artillery and drone warfare that requires months of specialized preparation.
The Ambush and the "Meat Grinder"
The situation deteriorated rapidly. Days after completing his brief training, David contacted Susan with terrifying news: he and his unit had been ambushed in Russian-controlled territory. The illusion of a "manageable" job had shattered.
Analysts and survivors have often described the role of foreign recruits in this war as "cannon fodder" troops sent to the frontlines to absorb enemy fire and reveal Ukrainian positions. David’s experience appears to tragically align with these reports.
The Final Voice Note
The day Susan Kuloba had feared most eventually arrived. It came in the form of a haunting voice message. David sounded resigned to his fate.
He told her he was being sent into active battle. In a heartbreaking act of administrative pragmatism, he instructed his mother on what to do if he didn't return:
Keep his Russian Military ID details safe.
Preserve his contract documents.
These papers, written in Russian a language neither of them natively spoke were the only link between his life in Kenya and his potential death in Europe. They were the only hope his family might have for claiming compensation or retrieving his body.
A Global Phenomenon
The Kuloba family's ordeal is not an isolated incident. Since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, reports have surfaced of men from Nepal, Cuba, India, and various African nations being recruited into the Russian army.
The Lure: High salaries (often 5-10 times what they could earn at home) and the promise of Russian citizenship.
The Reality: Frontline deployment with minimal training, language barriers that make following orders fatal, and a lack of proper equipment.
For the Kuloba family, the geopolitics matter little. All that remains is the silence left by a son who went looking for a better life and found a war he never meant to fight.