Since last fall, more than 12,000 North Korean servicemen have reportedly been deployed to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

More recently, Ukraine has accused the Kremlin of recruiting foreign fighters from an entirely different region.

Growing numbers of mercenaries from Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Uganda, and other African nations reveal the extent to which

Russia is struggling to recruit fresh troops among its own population. Reporting from Ukraine,

special correspondent Simon Ostrowski investigates how these mercenaries also represent

an increased reliance on guns for hire in some of the world's deadliest conflicts.

This is one of five prisoner of war camps in Ukraine,

and the Ukrainian authorities won't tell us how many POWs they have.

But what we do know is that there's a mix of Russians who were captured

as well as foreign nationals from third countries.

And increasingly, many of those fighters have been from Africa.

A vast Kremlin network of recruiters is pulling in thousands of mercenaries from across the

African continent to fight and die for Russia and Ukraine.

The lucky few who survive end up here, where one in

ten are foreign fighters, according to Ukrainian officials. But the ramifications of what's

happening go far beyond this European theater of war.

The African recruits and other internationals are helping Russia increase its battlefield numbers.

But that's not just a problem for Ukraine. They're leaving their homelands in such high numbers,

particularly in some countries in Africa, that it's becoming a security issue there.

Cameroon? Cameroon. Cameroon. So many troops from Cameroon have joined up that. Cameroon? Cameroon.

So many troops from Cameroon have joined up that the Cameroonian Defense Ministry ordered its officers to, quote, immediately take appropriate measures against desertion.

All men in uniform are now banned from traveling abroad without special permission,

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