The Lure, ©2025, William L. Brown. Africans and others from the southern hemisphere are regularly lured to Russia with promises of well-paying jobs, but find themselves tricked or forced into the Russian military, where they are thrown into the Ukrainian front lines to die in “meat assaults.1”
The week of the heaviest, most deadly air bombardment of Kyiv, 30 dead and around 172 injured, my students’ biggest complaint this morning was the unusually cold weather there.
We don’t talk much about the war, unless they bring it up. The Friday morning sessions are a conversation club, the topic is whatever they want to talk about, as long as they are using English. They chose the same topics and talk wise just as Americans would. The biggest difference between them and Americans is that they frequently say “excuse me for interrupting…”
They discuss leisure activities, children, home life, but mostly work. I’m deeply over my head. They are all chemical engineers, they repair scientific equipment. Today I learned how a mercury switch works.
The war comes up in the context of work. There’s a labor shortage, particularly of specialists in their field. So, they all have heavy work-loads. They occasionally do mention conscription-fears and the international travel ban on military-age men, which they resent.
One of the deaths June 17 was an American civilian, Fred Grandy, a 62-year-old artist and volunteer who was killed in Russia's massive drone and missile attack against Kyiv.
Grandy, an Oregon resident, went to Kyiv last May to volunteer to clear away rubble after Russian attacks. He was planning to stay in Ukraine for five or six months, according to a story in the New York Times. The NYT has a paywall, but the Kyiv Independent picked up the story.
According to his family, his desire to volunteer in Ukraine stemmed from his dismay at U.S. Presidend Donald Trump's lack of support for Kyiv.
Grandy was upset by Trump's treatment of President Volodymyr Zelensky and withdrawal of military support, Reed told the NYT.
"He thought, you just don't let a bully do that stuff, and you don't just abandon people," Reed said.
"Then he saw how hard they fought to save their country, or are fighting still. It was just hard to understand walking away, you know? And he just believed that people need a hand up."
Fred Grandy risked his life, stepping up when his government stepped back.
He was murdered by Russia, what are we going to do about it?
SOURCES:
Putin's recruits: The young Africans fighting for Russia in Ukraine France24, June 13, 2025
Shampoo Lies, Frontline Cries! African Migrants Tricked into Russian Army with Fake Job Promises MSN, June, 2025
Africans Pushed to Frontlines in Russian ‘Cannon Fodder’ Strategy in Ukraine, Africa Defense Forum, Feb 11, 2025.
Too many are hell bent on destruction and for what? An ideology that doesn’t exist.