In Yaoundé, worried families and civil society actors have joined their voices since August under a common banner: "Bring Back Our Sons and Brothers." The collective is demanding information on the fate of Cameroonians who left, under various promises, to join the ranks of the Russian army.
Its demands come down to three points: obtaining news of the missing, allowing the repatriation of the bodies of those killed in combat, and putting a stop to recruitment networks it describes as fraudulent.
This movement follows an episode that has stayed in people's memories: on April 7, 2026, based on an internal note dated the previous day, the Cameroonian government confirmed the death of sixteen Cameroonian contract soldiers who had served in what Moscow calls its "special military operation zone." Russia's embassy in Yaoundé had then transmitted a list of the deceased to the Ministry of External Relations, and the families concerned had been asked to come forward via an announcement on public broadcaster CRTV.
That April confirmation remains, to this day, the only official toll made public: no broader public count has been released since, whether on the total number of Cameroonians enlisted or on any further victims.
Cameroon is not an isolated case. Several journalistic investigations have documented, across the continent, recruitment networks relying on misleading advertisements spread through social media or flyers, dangling offers of training or civilian employment that, once recruits arrive in Russia, turn into military enlistment.
For now, the Cameroonian collective continues its efforts with the authorities, with no public response yet given to its three demands.
