Kenyan police have charged a man who allegedly recruited young people to travel to Russia under the guise of job opportunities to fight in the war in Ukraine.

Festus Arasa Omwamba, a recruitment manager at Global Face Human Resources, “fraudulently exploited” 22 Kenyans, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The victims were arrested in September at an apartment in Ati River, near the capital Nairobi, before they were flown to Russia.

However, the prosecutor added that three other individuals had left Kenya and returned home after suffering injuries on the battlefield. Omwamba, 33, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A report last week by Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) revealed that a total of 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight on the side of Russia in the four-year-old conflict in Ukraine.

The report, tabled by the majority leader in parliament, Kimani Ishinguwah, said that human traffickers and trainers were involved in a “disturbing” criminal network that recruits and transports Kenyans.

Omwamba surrendered to police earlier this month in a town near the Ethiopian border.

The victims, who were arrested in Ati Rivers last September, signed contracts with an unnamed foreign employment agency, police said. They promised to pay up to $18,000 for visas, travel, accommodation and other logistics, it added.