Kenyan at center of Russia recruitment saga freed

A man accused of trafficking Kenyans to Russia to enlist as fighters was on Wednesday released on a cash bail of Sh500,000 and required to provide one contact person.

Kahawa Law Courts Magistrate Gideon Kiage ruled that Edward Kamau Gituku may alternatively secure his release through a bond of Sh2 million with two sureties.

The State was represented by prosecutors Ken Amwayi and Kevin Kamau, while the accused was represented by lawyer Danstan Omari. 

Gituku was arrested by Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) detectives at an apartment in Athi River on Thursday September 25, 2025.

In his house, police found 21 young men who they alleged had been promised work in Russia after allegedly paying between Sh50,000 to Sh250,000 for their travel costs.

According to police, the victims had signed lucrative contracts with an unnamed company that bound them to pay Sh1.6 to Sh2.3 million for visa, travel, accommodation and logistics.

“Those who fail to pay within 35 days are charged a one per cent daily penalty. Some of the victims indicated that they had already paid deposits ranging from Sh50,000 to Sh100,000 upon being promised a salary of Sh250,000,” said the investigating officer Sergeant Bramwel Saima.

According to police the promise of jobs was all a façade and the men were being trafficked to the former soviet-union state, where they were to be enlisted as fighters in Russia’s war with Ukraine.

After this arrest, police said that two men had been rescued from the frontlines and one of them was being treated at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

The men who it was established were from various parts of the country had been rescued had passports and visas ready to travel.

In court, on Wednesday, Omari claimed that the rescued men were not ordinary people but were instead ex-army and ex-police officers who were looking for greener pastures.

The investigating officer in the case, Saima, said that Gituku was a tenant of several rented houses in Great Wall Garden estate.

“The officers gained entry into several houses at Great Wall Gardens in Athi River, which were two and three bedroomed houses and managed to rescue 22 Kenyan nationals suspected to be victims of human trafficking.”

Saima said that they had recovered several passports, a mobile phone among other items adding that they suspected that Gituku was working with several other suspects who he said remain at large.

 “One of the victims who had been trafficked to Russia is currently hospitalised in Kenya and he’s set to undergo a surgery medical procedure after returning from Russia.”

The case will be mentioned on October 23, for a pre-trial conference.

When Gituku was arrested and taken to court, a Russian national was on his way out of the country.

It is alleged that Mike Lyapin, who was working with the Russian Embassy in Kenya was also arrested by TOCU detectives and held at the Muthaiga Police Station.

At the station it is alleged that he opted not to go through the process of deportation and instead paid for his own ticket and went back to Russia.

He left the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Friday, September 26, at 14.13 hours via Air Arabia, Airbus A320, via Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), before taking the next flight to Russia.

Lyapin who had been in Kenya since 2017 saw the Embassy deny that he was their employee adding that he had been questioned by the police about his business activities in Kenya but was not detained.

“Diplomats of the Russian Embassy in Nairobi provided the necessary consular and legal assistance to the Russian citizen, and also made sure that his legal rights were not violated,” said the Embassy in a statement.