215 Nigerians recruited by Russia to fight in Ukraine, fifth highest in Africa — Ukrainian agency

Nigeria ranks fifth among African countries in the number of citizens recruited into the Russian armed forces to fight in the war against Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian government-run agency.

StopRussianRecruiters.org, an agency partly operated by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, reported that at least 215 Nigerians had been recruited into the Russian military, with at least 25 confirmed dead or missing. The figures were compiled from reports by local media outlets.

One of the Nigerians confirmed dead was Ayebusiwa Olabode Victor, a 34-year-old former Nigerian naval officer whose death was announced by Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence in May.

Victor reportedly signed a military contract in February, just a week after Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the recruitment of Nigerians into the Russian armed forces.

The report follows an announcement by Ukrainian authorities that two other Nigerians, Hamzat Kolawole and Mbah Udoka, had been killed while fighting for Russia.

In a statement, the authorities said the bodies of both men were recovered in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.

According to the statement, the two Nigerians were killed in late November in a drone strike while attempting to attack Ukrainian positions in the region. The authorities added that neither man had received adequate military training before being deployed.

African recruits are reportedly attracted to Russia with promises of “security jobs”, only to find themselves deployed to front-line positions with little training.

StopRussianRecruiters.org ranked Cameroon as the African country most affected by the recruitment, followed by Ghana and Egypt in second and third place, respectively. Kenya ranked fourth, ahead of Nigeria in fifth position.

Russia has denied knowledge of facilitating the recruitment of Africans to fight in the war.