On Thursday, the Ukrainian Military intelligence said it identified two Nigerians who died on the frontlines while allegedly fighting for Russia in the ongoing war that is now entering its fourth year.
The Nigerians were identified as Hamzat Kolawole and Mbah Udoka.
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According to a statement issued by the Ukrainian military, the two men joined the Russian army in mid-2025: Mr Kazeem on 29 August and Mr Udoka on 28 September.
It said that they were found dead, and their bodies were discovered in the Luhansk region in Eastern Ukraine. This is a front-line area in the Russia-Ukraine war.
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It said they were both killed in late November by a Ukrainian drone strike “during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region.”
The intelligence agency did not specify when or how they were discovered.
Attached to the statement were images of the two Nigerians in camouflage uniforms, along with three documents that provide additional information about their identities.
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Ukraine did not specify how it obtained the documents showing contract details and the military status of both soldiers. Military personnel on active combat duty are not known to carry such documents on the frontline.
PREMIUM TIMES could not authenticate the document or the information contained in it but has reviewed the content of the papers.
Two of the three single-page documents were written in Russian, and the third was a mix of Russian and English.
The third document, partially written in English, appears to be a contract document signed by Mr Kolawole.
It contained his name, date of birth (23 April 1983), and passport number В02437053.
The first paragraph of the document declared Mr Kazeem’s decision to join the Russian army “voluntary and conscious.”
It stated that Mr Kolawole voluntarily expressed an interest in signing the contract with the Ministry of Defence to fight for Russia.
“My decision is voluntary and conscious,” the document states after providing a designated signature line on which Mr Kazeem wrote his name.
The second paragraph, however, outlined the possible repercussions of Mr Kolawole’s decision to decline signing the contract.
It stated that, should he refuse to sign the contract, he would be handed over to the police and held in prison for months before he is eventually deported.
The document also declared that the Russian government would bar Mr Kolawole permanently from entering the country should he reject the contract.
He would also be required to reimburse the cost of the airline tickets for his deportation from Nigeria to Russia.
More on the contract
The single-page document also noted that upon signing, Mr Kolawole would be deployed to the “stormtrooper unit.”
This is a terminology for front-line assault units.
The contract, according to the document, is valid only for a year.
“Information for familiarisation. The contract with the Ministry of Defence is concluded for a 1-year period. You will be sent to a unit of stormtroopers.
“In case of any other intention to get to Russia, non-agreement to sign the contract, you will be taken to the police department, then you will have to wait many months for deportation in detention, and you will be banned from entering the Russian Federation forever. You will also need to compensate for the cost of buying round-trip tickets,” the document read.
It is unclear whether Mr Kolawole voluntarily signed the contract.
However, multiple investigations have revealed a pattern of luring Africans from Nigeria and other countries to Russia by promises of employment, higher wages, or educational opportunities, only to later have them deployed to combat zones.
A CNN investigation, published last year, showed that young Africans from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda were lured into Russia with fake job offers and then deployed to the front lines.
An investigation by Punch also documented cases in which Nigerians were lured to Russia and, upon arrival, found themselves threatened and pressured to sign military contracts without translation or legal guidance.
A BBC investigation also documented cases of young men from Yemen, a war-torn Middle Eastern country, being lured with promises of prosperity and citizenship to leave their country to fight in Ukraine.
A proof of military status, deployment for Udoka
The other documents, written entirely in Russian, contain information that appears to confirm Mr Udoka’s status as a contract soldier and his deployment to the front lines.
The document is treated as a certificate in place of a military ID card.
It states Mr Udoka’s Nigerian passport number as B50550985, and his date of birth as 7 January 1988.
The document, supposedly issued by the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, allows Mr Udoka to serve under contract in the Russian Armed Forces.
The other document showed he had officially been enlisted and was serving in Military Unit 91701 in Naro-Fominsk, a town in Moscow Oblast in Western Russia.
According to the document, Mr Udoka had been serving there since 3 October 2025.
It identified his military ID number to be AB-988945.
Both papers are stamped with circular ink seals of the Russian emblem. The papers also carry the Ukrainian intelligence watermaker.
READ ALSO: Ukraine identifies two Nigerians killed fighting for Russia
Russia denies
Russia has repeatedly denied recruiting Nigerians as contract soldiers for the war.
On Wednesday, the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Andrey Podyolyshev, said there are no government-backed programmes to recruit Nigerians to fight in the war in Ukraine.
He insisted that any such activity, if it exists, is not connected with the Russian state.
“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,” he said.
But Ukraine’s intelligence agency warned that Africans and other foreigners should avoid travelling to Russia or accepting job offers.
A trip to Russia is a real risk of being forced into a “suicide” assault unit and, “ultimately, rotting in Ukrainian soil,” it said.
Over two million troops from both sides are estimated to have been killed, wounded, or missing in the war which started when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
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