Most of the 17 South Africans who were trapped on the front line in Ukraine are out of the war zone. They were allegedly recruited by the MK party.

The last of the South Africans lured into fighting for Russia against Ukraine arrived in Moscow on Monday morning, 23 February and will soon fly home, according to a relative.

Four of the original group of 17 who had been fighting on the front line in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region returned last week. The majority of the remaining men were driven by bus from Ukraine to Moscow at the weekend, Nombuyiselo Mukansi, the aunt of one of the young men coming home, told Daily Maverick.

She expressed relief that they were at last out of the war zone and safely in Moscow, though she was not sure when they would fly back to South Africa. She said their relatives had spoken to the men while they were in transit on Sunday and then heard from them on Monday morning that they had arrived in Moscow.

Mukansi was not completely certain about the number of men in the remaining group. "According to our knowledge, it's 13, though we are not certain. All we can say is that the remaining men are now in Russia. We hope it's 13."

News24 reported on Monday that 11 of the remaining 13 South...