By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A Nigerian national identified as Kehinde Oluwagbemileke, who was reportedly fighting for the Russian military in the ongoing war in Kyiv, has been captured by Ukrainian forces.
According to Ukraine’s “I Want to Live” project, Oluwagbemileke was apprehended by the Freedom of Russia Legion, a unit made up of Russian fighters aligned with Ukraine.
The 29-year-old was said to have been captured in the Zaporizhzhia region after spending five months serving with Russian forces.
Prior to his involvement in the war, Oluwagbemileke had reportedly lived in Russia for four years before his arrest on drug-related charges.
The project stated that he agreed to join Russia’s military campaign in exchange for a reduced sentence, instead of serving time under Article 228 of the Russian Criminal Code.
“Kehinde is one of thousands of mercenaries from third countries recruited by Russia’s Defence Ministry to fight in Ukraine,” the organisation stated.
“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.”
According to reports, over 200 Africans have joined Ukrainian forces, with estimates suggesting thousands may be fighting for Russia.
Nigeria tops the list of African countries with mercenaries operating in Ukraine, followed by Algeria and South Africa.
