New details have emerged regarding the names of at least 4 Nigerians who were reportedly killed while fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine.
According to reports the four Nigerians reportedly killed while fighting for Russia have been identified as Adam Anas, Akinlawon Tunde Quyuum, Abugu Stanley Onyeka, and Balogun Ridwan Adisa.
This development has shed more light on the increasing number of foreign nationals being recruited into the Russian military.
Sources said the Nigerian fighters died on the frontline on different dates between December 2025 and January 2026.
It was also reported that the Russian military allegedly failed to contact the families of the fallen fighters, just as they warned other African mercenaries against reporting the incidents to the families of the deceased fighters.
The news of the death of the four Nigerians killed while fighting for Russia was first broken in a secret WhatsApp group opened by the African mercenaries.
“We heard about the death of our brother through one of his colleagues. His picture was posted in a secret WhatsApp group. Our family was never contacted by the Russian authorities,” said a relative of a deceased conscript, Adam Anas.
Background checks into one of the deceased revealed the details of their experience.
It was gathered that Adam’s journey to Russia began after an informal acceptance of the “security job offer” by a Nigerian agent identified as Emiola Muhammad.
On arrival at the Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Adam was immediately diverted away from border control queues to another passage, exempting them from immigration clearance.
Immediately after arrival, Adam, and other Nigerian job-seekers were therefore asked to sign the contract written in Russian without English translation.
Part of the contract is translated as follows: “During the period of military service under the contract, you are required to conscientiously perform all general, official, and special duties of military personnel established by legislative and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation.
“To be faithful to the Military Oath (obligation), to selflessly serve the people of the Russian Federation, to courageously and skillfully defend the Russian Federation (paragraph three of Article 16 of the Internal Service Regulations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 10, 2007 No. 1495 (hereinafter referred to as the Internal Service Regulations).”
Also, further investigation has uncovered new details around the recruitment tactics of Russian agents on the continent, exposing the rosy promises made to African job hunters and the reality of forced military service and bloody frontline fighting that many instead find.
Many of the African fighters in Russia have revealed that they were offered civilian jobs such as drivers or security guards. Most said they were promised a signing bonus of $13,000, monthly salaries as high as $3,500, and Russian citizenship at the end of their service.
But when they landed in Russia, they say they were forced into the military and given little training before being deployed to the front line. They were made to sign military service contracts in Russian without lawyers or translation provided, they said. Some had their passports confiscated, effectively making it impossible to flee.
Recall also that several African governments, including Botswana, Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya, have acknowledged the scale of the problem and launched an investigation into the matter.
