Ukrainian military intelligence has recovered the bodies of two Nigerian nationals killed while serving in Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, revealing that both men were deployed to front-line combat with no military training, days after signing contracts they reportedly did not fully understand.
Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence identified the deceased as Hamzat Kazeen Kolawole, 42, born April 3, 1983, and Mbah Stephen Udoka, 38, born January 7, 1988. Both men allegedly served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, military unit 91701, under the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division of the Russian Armed Forces. The Nigerians were killed in late November 2025 by a Ukrainian drone strike during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region. They never engaged in a firefight before being eliminated, according to the intelligence statement released Thursday.
Kolawole signed his military contract with Russia on August 29, 2025, while Udoka followed on September 28. Udoka was assigned to a combat unit just five days after signing his contract and dispatched immediately to Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. No training records were found for either man.
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“Udoka received no training whatsoever, just five days later, on October 3, he was assigned to the unit and sent to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. No training records for Kolawole have been preserved; however, it is highly likely that he also received no military training,” Ukrainian intelligence said in its statement.
Kolawole is survived by a wife and three children who remain in Nigeria. No information on Udoka’s family circumstances was included in the Ukrainian statement.
The disclosure came just two days after Russia’s ambassador to Nigeria publicly denied knowledge of any government-backed programme recruiting Nigerians to fight in Ukraine. Addressing reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, Ambassador Andrey Podyolyshev said he was unaware of any such recruitment activity and that if it existed, it was not connected to the Russian state. Thursday’s statement by Ukrainian intelligence, accompanied by photographs and specific military unit designations, directly contradicted that position.
Nigerian fighters were reportedly offered a monthly salary of 200,000 rubles, approximately 3.6 million naira at current exchange rates, along with additional allowances. Russian Embassy officials in Abuja are alleged to have issued the recruits single-entry tourist visas without standard biometric capture. Upon arrival in Russia, the men were allegedly pressured to sign military service contracts written in Russian, without access to lawyers or translation services.
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The pattern described by Ukrainian intelligence is consistent with findings from multiple investigations into African recruitment for Russian military service. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence titled its statement “Nigerians in a meat assault, the number of identified dead Russian mercenaries from Africa is rising,” a reference to the military tactic of using poorly trained infantry in high-casualty frontal assaults to exhaust enemy defenses.
The broader recruitment crisis extends well beyond Nigeria. On February 9, at least seven Kenyans were reported missing by their families after traveling to Russia for work. Days earlier, on February 6, the remains of three Kenyan nationals, Ombwori Denis Bagaka, Wahome Simon Gititu, and Clinton Nyapara Mogesa, were reportedly found near Lyman in the Donetsk region. Kenyan authorities said on February 11 they had successfully repatriated 27 citizens from Russia and Ukraine. At least four Kenyans remain in a prisoner-of-war facility in Kyiv, with negotiations for their release ongoing.
Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is scheduled to visit Moscow in March 2026 to verify the status of nationals reportedly receiving medical treatment and to negotiate the release of those in captivity.
A CNN investigation previously documented how young people from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda were recruited through fraudulent job offers before being deployed to active combat zones. A separate investigation published last month by the Punch newspaper documented Nigerian cases in which recruits arrived in Russia only to find themselves coerced into signing military contracts without legal representation or translation.
A collaborative investigation by ZAM and Premium Times identified a distinct recruitment channel targeting young women aged 18 to 22, using a Russian state-backed initiative called Alabuga Start, which presented itself as offering fully funded two-year scholarships. The scheme deployed unlicensed recruitment agencies in Nigeria and leveraged social media influencers to amplify its reach, primarily targeting women from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence issued a direct warning to foreign nationals in its Thursday statement: “Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence warns foreign citizens against travelling to the Russian Federation or accepting any form of employment on the territory of the aggressor state.” The agency said such trips carried a “real risk of being forced into so-called ‘suicide’ assault units and ultimately dying on Ukrainian soil.”
Nigeria’s foreign ministry has not issued a formal statement in response to the deaths or the Russian ambassador’s earlier denial. The Nigerian government has previously cautioned citizens against unauthorized involvement in foreign conflicts but has not publicly detailed any enforcement actions against recruiters operating within the country.
Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, has drawn fighters from dozens of countries, many through deceptive recruitment practices that obscure the military nature of the engagement until recruits are already on Russian soil.
