Kenyan athlete Evans Kibet says he was deceived to join the Russian army and go to Ukraine

With tears in the eyes, a young Kenyan athlete, who is now a captive in Ukraine, asks not to be sent back to Russia.

“I’ll die there,” says Evans Kibet, waving his hands in the air to the unprecedented interviewer in the video, published Wednesday by an Ukrainian Army Brigade.

The 36-year-old war prisoner is dressed in a red sports top. The brigade’s flag is nailed behind it.

The calm long-distance runner says he was enticing to join the Russian army and desperate to go home to see his 16-year-old daughter.

In a Facebook publication accompanying the video, the 57th separate motorized infantry brigade said it was an example of how Russia was referring to foreign recruits, but added that it was “fought on the enemy’s side, so that you believe words and tears,” respond to your discretion. “

The brigade said the interview was filmed with Kibet’s consent, but the BBC did not check this. Although the recruits from abroad in the Russian army are not unheard, it is a rare case of a foreigner in captivity who speaks in video.

Citizens of Somalia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cuba and Sri Lanka, among others, are currently being held in Ukrainian prisoners of prisoners of war, said a spokesman for Ukraine for the treatment of prisoners of war, to the BBC.

“Most of these people come from the greater countries and find themselves on the Russian side in different ways. Some are deceived – promised jobs in factories – while others voluntarily join the war.

In Kenya, Kybet’s family and friends are shocked by what they have seen.

After a strong sigh and a long pause, his cousin Edith Chesoy told the BBC that she was relaying the video again and again in her head.

“I’m so injured. I didn’t sleep at night. I don’t even know what to say.”

Kibet’s younger brother Isaac Kipiego described him as “a humble man and a man in a few words”, as well as a pillar and advisor to the rest of the family.

They know him as someone dedicated to his sport.

“I like to run, I like to run,” says Kibet to the Ukrainian video. And that is what can make him become an involuntary Russian set.

Kibet had built his life around athletics, a sport that lifted many Kenyans like him from villages to global recognition.

He grew up in an agricultural family from the Elgon Mountain in West Kenya.

Kibet trains in ITEN, a city of height known for producing Olympians and world champions, but in a racing area he has never reached this status. Instead, he competed in less well-known road races 10 km and a half-marathon in Europe and Asia, according to family and friends.

“Kibet has been running since a child,” his younger brother said. “He was always talented. Running was his life.”

But while the sport determined his identity, he had not delivered the financial breakthrough he longed for.

Friends say Kibet has fought financially.

In March, he asked a training partner Elias Kiptum to help him compete in Poland, but the team he was going was already full.

“I guess he ended up in Russia,” Kiptum told the BBC.

When a sports agent later offered him a trip to Russia to participate in competitions, Kibet took the opportunity. The BBC calls to the agent to confirm this have not been taken.

“He was very excited when he told me that he would compete in Russia,” Kybet’s brother said. “I was even happy for him. We had great expectations.”

His cousin, Mrs. Chesoy, who accompanied him to the bus park of the first trip of the trip at the end of July, said he only wore a small-sized suitcase.

Kibet told her family that he would only be gone in two weeks.

In the video filmed in Ukraine, Kibet says he went to Russia as a visitor, not for “military work”.

Then, after two weeks, his host asked him if he would want to stay longer.

“I said,” Yes, but the problem is that my visa has expired. ” He said, “No, I can do something for you.” “And then he promised Kibe for work.

“In the evening, he came with some documents written in Russian. He said to me,” This is the work I want you to do. “

“I didn’t know it was military work.”

Kibet says he then signed the documents and the man took his phone and passport.

“And so everything went wrong … that the signing ruined my life.”

According to Kibet, some other people appeared and told him to get into a car. Then they drove about seven o’clock.

“I found myself in a military camp.”

Kibet says he was informed that he had signed to be in the army and that he had no choice.

“They told me,” Either you go to fight, or we will kill you. “

He says that a week of basic training is followed, during which he is shown how to deal with an automatic rifle. None of his commanders spoke English, so the instructions appear through strokes and gestures.

Kibet insists that he has never dealt with the battle and then on the way to what would be his first mission, he threw away his equipment and escapes, wandering for two days through a forest near Vovchansk in the northeastern region of Harciv in Ukraine.

He then approached some Ukrainian soldiers.

“I went there with my hands up,” he says, repeating the gesture for the camera.

“I said,” I’m a Kenya, please don’t shoot me. “

“Everyone pointed their weapons to me, but I told them to calm down. The commander came, they tied me up. I told them,” No, I’m not unarmed, I don’t want anything. I’m here to save my life. “

Although Kibet’s family is shocked by the video, there is some relief that it is in the hands of Ukrainians.

“We believe he is a little safe (with them), not in Russia,” said his brother, Kipiego.

The family asks the Kenyan authorities to intervene. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet responded to a request for comment.

“If the government of his country of origin is interested in repatriation, Ukraine is open to negotiations for his transfer home,” said Ukrainian spokesman Jasenko.

However, speaking of other prisoners of the war, he added that “most African countries show little interest in returning such citizens and did not want to bring them back.”

For Kibet’s relatives, their only priority is his safety.

“If he makes a mistake, let him forgive him. We only want him,” his brother said.