Students from Africa studying in Russia are being pressured to join Russia’s Wagner Group to fight against Ukraine, at the risk of losing scholarships and higher tuition fees. Students of the Russian Southern University of Rostov-on-Don report this.
University officials have spent the past three months trying to persuade students to accept either an offer from the Russian military or a similar offer from the private military company Wagner, according to the news website Daily Beast.
Students will be faced with an increase in tuition fees
Both organizations promised $3,000 to $5,000 in wages to students willing to fight in Ukraine. Those who rejected the offer were threatened with withdrawal of scholarships and increases in tuition fees.
“There are three of them (officials at the school) who meet us in our dormitory and try to convince us to fight for Russia,” said some Nigerian students. “They said we could fight in Ukraine for a short time, earn that much money and then return to Russia to continue our education. They reminded us a few times that there are Africans who are already fighting in Ukraine and making good money.”
Russian security officials and police officers would also try to convince the students. They often approach African students in parks or on the streets and offer to fight in Ukraine. The pressure is great: “Everywhere we (African students) go, people try to persuade us to go fight in Ukraine,” says a student from Senegal’s South University.
Sworn never to go to war
The students who spoke to the Daily Beast said they had sworn never to go to war. But they know others who are considering doing this to solve their financial problems.
Source: Krone
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