A video posted online last month shows a group of soldiers in a snow-covered forest singing a Ugandan song. In the background, a Russian voice mocks them as "disposable".
Uganda is the latest African country to discover a network of forced recruitment sending its citizens to fight and die for the Russian army on the front line in Ukraine.
Multiple media investigations, including one published Monday by AFP, have already triggered anger in Kenya and South Africa.
Uganda has built close ties to Russia during the 40-year rule of President Yoweri Museveni, buying military equipment and abstaining from UN votes opposed to the invasion of Ukraine.
"Call me a 'Putinist' if you will, but we, Uganda, shall send soldiers to defend Moscow if it's ever threatened by the Imperialists!" wrote the president's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, on social media in March 2023. Then a senior commander, he is now head of the army.
Uganda is known for its highly trained soldiers, providing vital contingents to the international force in Somalia, and veterans to private security companies that operated in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
An official in Uganda's Special Returnees Association, a veterans' group, told AFP some of its 20,000 members had lately been targeted by Russia.
One recruitment agent offered veterans work contracts in Israel, only to then send them to Russia, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He knew of "more than 10" that went to Russia, three of whom died.
"We have told them... they will die with a bullet in their heads and their bodies buried in ice or left to be fed on by vultures," he said.
- 'Covertly recruited' -
Many more are likely to have gone the same way.
In August, nine men were intercepted at Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on their way to Russia, a source in the Ugandan intelligence, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
They were part of a group of more than 100 Ugandans with military experience "covertly recruited" and leaving in waves at the time, the source said.
However, no further operations were reported against Russian trafficking networks. A Russian citizen arrested in connection with the case was later released and the investigation has stalled, the source added.
Another source in the Ugandan security forces told AFP that some recruits were now leaving via Kenya.
- Sign 'at gunpoint' -
The video appearing to show Ugandans singing in a forest was posted last month by a pro-Ukrainian account.
The Russian voice in the background says: "Look how many disposable ones there are here. And they sing. They're joyful. Never mind, now they'll depart (for the front) and they'll start singing differently."
AFP was unable to verify where the video was filmed.
Uganda's NTV recently featured an interview with a woman whose husband, Edson Kamwesigye, was killed in Ukraine last month.
Shortly after he left, pictures of his lifeless body and ID papers spread on social media.
A Ugandan state minister for foreign affairs, Okello Oryem, told NTV the government could not intervene in the repatriation process.
Richard Akantoran, a former cleaner from Kampala, was recently rescued by Ukrainian forces after escaping his Russian unit.
In a video released by the Ukrainian army, he says he was promised a job in a supermarket or as a security guard in Russia. Once there, he was forced to sign a contract with the army.
A soldier "put us at gunpoint and said you sign these papers", said Akantoran.
In February 2024, the Ugandan government posted on X a message from the Russian ambassador, saying there were "unlimited opportunities for young people in Russia".
"To my fellow Africans... don't fall in the trap," Akantoran says in the video. "They promise you well-paying jobs in Russia... it's a lie."