Up to 62 Ghanaians have died, with 15 others still missing, following their “illegal recruitment” to fight in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed.

In a post made on social media last Tuesday following a three-day bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Mr Ablakwa said the rising casualties were a matter of grave concern to the government of Ghana.

“An important matter to Ghana was how to stop the illegal recruitment of Ghanaian youth who are lured and end up fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Unfortunately, the number of Ghanaian deaths in Russia has gone up,” the minister posted, and added that “62 Ghanaians have now died, and 15 who travelled to Russia remain missing.”

Mr Ablakwa said he welcomed the pledge of the Russian government to work with Ghana to stop the illegal enlistment of Ghanaian youth.

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

The Government of Ghana will continue to lead advocacy on this matter and ensure that our youth are protected from harm’s way,” he stated.

On a positive note, Mr Ablakwa announced that as part of outcomes from the visit, Russia had agreed to double scholarships for Ghanaian students from 120 to 240 each academic year.

He said the full scholarships would prioritise strategic areas, including Artificial Intelligence, engineering, petroleum sciences and pharmaceuticals, to support Ghana’s development agenda.

The minister further disclosed that Ghana and Russia had agreed to advance cooperation in Ghana’s peaceful nuclear energy programme and green transition objectives.

He said the partnership was part of Ghana’s energy diversification plan, which sought to include 700 megawatts of nuclear power in the national energy mix.

Mr Ablakwa said the two countries would also collaborate on global issues such as counterterrorism, climate change and reforms of the United Nations.

He described the bilateral engagement as fruitful, insisting that it marked a renewed commitment by both countries to deepen cooperation in education, energy, security and multilateral diplomacy for mutual benefit.