Russian fighters for Ukraine capture Nigerian mercenary fighting for Moscow

"Russians fighting for Ukraine capture an African man fighting for Russia — this isn’t a movie plot, it’s the reality of today’s war," the project noted.

According to the report, the Freedom of Russia Legion took 29-year-old Nigerian Kehinde Oluwagbemileke prisoner. It turned out he had lived in Russia for four years, involved in drug trafficking.

After his arrest, he was offered a deal: join the so-called special military operation instead of serving time under Article 228 of Russia’s criminal code. What he wasn’t told was that the price of a clean slate could be his life.

The Nigerian fought for five months, which is a relatively long time for a mercenary, before surrendering in the Zaporizhzhia direction.

"Kehinde is one of thousands of mercenaries from third countries recruited by Russia’s Defense Ministry to fight in Ukraine. We’ve already published data on nearly 7,000 foreign fighters from 14 countries, but that’s only a small part of the foreigners the Kremlin has sent to die in Ukraine. All of them are cheap manpower, which is not spared," the I Want to Live project stated.

Foreign fighters in captivity

A week ago, the Ukrainian Armed Forces captured another foreign soldier — a Chinese citizen fighting for the Russian army. He was identified as 24-year-old Wang Wu.

RBC-Ukraine previously reported on what is known about this prisoner and explained how he ended up in the war.

Russian media earlier identified 51 Chinese nationals who signed contracts with the Russian military. Many of them traveled to Moscow intentionally.

Additionally, we have reported on how Russia recruits foreign mercenaries to fight against Ukraine.