In Douala, Cameroon, Mama Regina has been waiting for more than a year for the body of her son Moses, who was killed fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. He was shot by Ukrainian soldiers while running towards the trenches.

Regina received the news of her son's death via a phone call from thousands of kilometers away. She says Moses left to "fight another man's war." Her home sits wedged between the vast container port of Douala and the city's sprawling slums, where time barely moves.

According to Ukrainian officials, nearly 3,000 Africans from 35 countries are fighting alongside Russian forces, which the Kyiv regime claims is the result of active recruitment across the continent. Former Russian army officer Sergey Elidonov dismisses the allegations, arguing that people find their own way to Russia.

Professor Aicha Pemboura, who has been researching the phenomenon, says this represents a new type of migration. Many Cameroonian students, unemployed graduates, and young men travel to Russia believing they are going for work or education, only to sign military contracts.

Pemboura notes that the war in Ukraine is quietly draining African countries of soldiers, students, and skilled workers, representing a loss for Africa. She emphasizes that this is not replacing other migration routes but adding another one.

History echoes: during World War II, hundreds of thousands of African soldiers crossed continents to fight for Europe's freedom. Today, another European war is drawing young Africans north. Some will return transformed, some in silence, and some never at all.

Mama Regina is waiting for a body. Without one, there can be no funeral, no grave, no final prayer. A body is proof that her son existed, that he fought, and that he was loved.

Source: www.aljazeera.com