Ukraine unveils identities of Nigerians killed in war against Russia

The Ukrainian Defence Intelligence (UDI) has identified two Nigerian men – Hamzat Kazeem Kolawole and Mbah Stephen Udoka – killed while fighting as Russian mercenaries.

The development comes after Russia denied knowledge of Nigerians being recruited to fight on the frontlines.

Addressing reporters in Abuja, on Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Andrey Podyolyshev, said he was not aware of any government-backed programme to recruit Nigerians to fight in the war in Ukraine.

He said if at all such activity existed, it is not connected with the Russian state.

But in a statement, on Thursday, Ukrainian Defence released photographs of Nigerians killed while defending Russia.

“In the Luhansk region, military intelligence operatives discovered the bodies of two citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria — Hamzat Kazeen Kolawole (03.04.1983) and Mbah Stephen Udoka (07.01.1988),” the statement read.

According to the statement, both men served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (military unit 91701) of the 4th guards kantemirovskaya tank division of the armed forces of the Russian federation.

UDI said that they signed contracts with the Russian Army in the second half of 2025 – Kolawole on August 29 and Udoka on September 28.

“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,” the report read.

It added that no training records for Kolawole have been preserved; however, it is highly likely that he also received no military training but his wife and three children remain in Nigeria.

Both Nigerians, the report added, were killed in late November during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region.

“They never engaged in a firefight — the mercenaries were eliminated by a drone strike,” UDI stated, warning foreign citizens against traveling to the Russian federation or taking up any work on the territory of the “aggressor state”.

“A trip to Russia is a real risk of being forced into a suicide assault unit and, ultimately, rotting in Ukrainian soil,” the statement read.

DAILY NIGERIAN had reported how four Nigerians — Adam Anas, Akinlawon Tunde Quyuum, Abugu Stanley Onyeka and Balogun Ridwan Adisa — were killed on the frontlines.

The deceased were said to have been recruited on the false pretence of “security job” but ended up being conscripted and deployed to the war front after three weeks of training.

The newspaper quoted its sources as saying the Nigerian fighters died on the frontline on different dates between December 2025 and January 2026.

The report claimed that the Russian Embassy in Abuja granted the Nigerian mercenaries a single-entry tourist visa without biometric capture and fulfilling other application requirements, adding that the mercenaries were promised a tempting monthly salary of 200,000 ruble (about 3.6million naira) as well as allowances and other perks.

But when they landed in Russia, they were allegedly forced into the military and given little training before being deployed to the frontline. They were reportedly made to sign military service contracts in Russian without lawyers or translation provided.

Some alleged that their passports confiscated, effectively making it impossible to flee.

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