Russian Embassy Says Anti-Russia Billboards in Ghana Are Part of Ukrainian Propaganda Campaign

Dragon Media News Desk

The Russian Embassy in Ghana has said that billboards bearing the slogans “I Want to Live” and “I Want to Find,” put up in Accra in late October, are part of a Ukrainian government propaganda campaign.

According to the embassy, the website “Stop Russian Recruiters,” which organized the campaign, is jointly run by Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The embassy said the website presents itself as a human rights initiative, but is not one.

The embassy said Russia has never used deception to recruit foreign nationals for military service and that no credible evidence to the contrary has been presented. It also claimed the billboard campaign had lost its purpose following Ghanaian President John Mahama’s visit to Russia and his meeting with President Vladimir Putin. According to the embassy, the meeting in Moscow made clear that Ghanaian citizens would not serve in Russia under contract.

The embassy accused Ukraine of advertising in Ghanaian media and other channels to recruit foreign nationals, including Africans, into its armed forces. It cited an October 8 report by a Ghanaian news outlet about nine military positions open to foreign nationals and said similar advertisements were being circulated through official Ukrainian Defense Ministry channels.

The embassy also claimed that more than 20,000 foreign mercenaries are fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. It accused Ukraine of using them as “cannon fodder” for the interests of Western countries, attributing the figure to its security agencies.

The embassy urged the Ghanaian public to be wary of what it described as disinformation. It said Russia remained a reliable partner of Ghana and was committed to developing bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect and trust.