Sixty-two (62) Ghanaians have lost their lives, while fifteen others remain missing amid the Russia-Ukraine war, Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has revealed.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his three-day working visit to Russia, Mr Ablakwa said the discussions focused on Ghanaian nationals who are being lured under various circumstances by recruitment agencies in Russia and subsequently enlisted to fight in the war.

“So far, sixty-two (62) Ghanaians have lost their lives in this senseless war, and fifteen (15) others remain unaccounted for. Unfortunately, the number of Ghanaian deaths in Russia has gone up. Sixty-two Ghanaians have now died, and 15 who travelled to Russia remain missing,” the North Tongu Member of Parliament said.

He said the government was intensifying diplomatic efforts to stop the illegal recruitment of Ghanaian youth, noting that a major focus of his bilateral talks with the Russian Foreign Minister was on measures to be adopted by both countries to end the illegal enlistment of Ghanaian nationals into the conflict.

Mr Ablakwa said the Ghanaian government would continue to pursue diplomatic and advocacy efforts to disrupt recruitment networks and protect Ghanaian youth from being drawn into the war.

“This is not our war, and it should not be claiming Ghanaian lives,” he said.

He stressed that the government remained committed to protecting Ghanaian nationals from recruitment schemes that could expose them to the dangers of the conflict.

The Minister’s remarks come about six months after he first visited Russia on a three-day working mission over the illegal enlistment of Ghanaians into the conflict with Ukraine.

At the time, Mr Ablakwa reported that five Ghanaians had died in the conflict and confirmed that two others were prisoners of war being held in Russian custody.