A Nigerian national has been captured in southeastern Ukraine while fighting for Russian forces, in a case that is drawing renewed scrutiny over Moscow’s recruitment of African migrants for its war effort.
The “Freedom for Russia” Legion, a military unit made up of Russian dissidents allied with Ukraine, announced on Saturday, July 5, that it had detained Kehinde Oluwagbemileke, a Nigerian man who had previously studied in Moscow.
He was captured during a military operation in the Zaporizhia region, according to a statement from Ukrainian military intelligence.
Oluwagbemileke, identified in a video released by Ukrainian authorities, claimed he had been enticed by Russian recruiters offering promises of rapid financial gain and minimal frontline exposure.
Instead, he was placed in the 503rd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment and sent directly into what the Legion described as a “suicide assault” with no proper training or logistical support.
“He didn’t know he was being sent to die,” a spokesperson for the Legion said, alleging that the young man was used as expendable labor in a dangerous operation.
The case is strikingly similar to that of Senegalese national Malick Diop, who was captured in April while fighting on the Donetsk front.
Diop, too, had studied in Russia and reportedly joined the Russian military under the false pretense of obtaining safe passage to Europe.
Both incidents underscore a disturbing pattern in which vulnerable African students and migrants in Russia are allegedly coerced or misled into joining military operations.
Human rights observers warn that the Kremlin’s recruitment practices exploit economic hardship and immigration insecurity, turning foreign nationals into what Kyiv has called “cannon fodder.”
The Freedom for Russia Legion has consistently called on foreign soldiers conscripted by Russia to lay down their arms or defect, condemning the Kremlin’s treatment of its troops and highlighting what it describes as systemic disregard for human life within Russia’s military ranks.
As the Russo-Ukrainian conflict grinds on, the presence of African fighters on both sides of the battlefield continues to raise ethical and geopolitical concerns—particularly in a war increasingly marked by disinformation, desperation, and broken promises.
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