Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, praised Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, on Tuesday for his assistance in ensuring the return of 17 South Africans to their homeland.
They were on the front lines of the conflict in Ukraine after allegedly being duped into thinking they were traveling to Russia for bodyguard training.
Four of the guys have already returned to the country, according to Ramaphosa, and eleven more will shortly be returning.
Two more people are still in Russia; one is in a Moscow hospital and the other is going through “administrative travel processing.”
The group had sent “distress calls” to the South African government in November after getting trapped in the epicentre of fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Ramaphosa raised their case with Putin earlier this month.
Investigations into how the men were duped into fighting for Russia are ongoing.
They revolve around allegations of human trafficking, fraud, and violations of a law prohibiting South Africans from fighting for a foreign country’s army without government authorisation.
The president also reiterated his country’s commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict through negotiation.
His announcement of the men’s return comes on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In address marking the day, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin “has not achieved his goals” in the war and that Kyiv would do everything to achieve peace and ensure justice.
But he added that any settlement should not “betray” the price paid by Ukrainians throughout the conflict.
