Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate has confirmed the deaths of two Nigerian citizens, Hamzat Kazeen Kolawole and Mbah Stephen Udoka, who were killed during a drone strike while serving in the Russian military in the Luhansk region.
In a statement released on Thursday, titled “Nigerians in a meat assault , the number of identified dead Russian mercenaries from Africa is rising,” the Ukrainian agency detailed the deaths of the two men.
According to the statement, Kolawole (born April 3, 1983) and Udoka (born January 7, 1988) were discovered dead during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in late November 2025.
Both men had joined the Russian military under contract, with Kolawole enlisting on August 29, 2025, and Udoka following on September 28, 2025. They served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (military unit 91701) of the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division.
The statement added that Udoka had no prior military training before being deployed to the front lines of occupied Ukrainian territory just five days after joining the Russian army.
Kolawole’s training records are also absent, leading Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence to suggest he likely received no formal training as well.
Both men were killed in late November when they attempted to storm Ukrainian positions but were eliminated by a drone strike before they could engage in direct combat. Kolawole leaves behind a wife and three children in Nigeria.
In its statement, Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence agency warned foreign nationals against traveling to Russia or seeking employment there, citing the risks of being recruited into what it described as “suicide” assault units.
“Travelling to Russia poses a real risk of being forced into a suicide assault unit and, ultimately, rotting in Ukrainian soil,” the statement read.
Russia, meanwhile, has denied any official involvement in recruiting Nigerians for the war in Ukraine. In response to the growing concerns, Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Andrey Podyolyshev, stated, “There is no government-supported programme to recruit Nigerians to fight in Ukraine. If there are illegal organisations or individuals trying to recruit Nigerians by unlawful means, this is not connected with the Russian state.”
Reports by CNN and videos circulating online have suggested that some Nigerians and other African nationals were recruited under the guise of security jobs in Russia, only to be deployed to the war front with little training.
