Ukraine Identifies Another Nigerian Olabode Victor Killed Fighting For Russia

Ukraine has confirmed the death of another Nigerian, Ayebusiwa Olabode Victor, who was fighting on the side of Russia as a mercenary in the ongoing war.

In a statement released on Thursday, Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence revealed that Ayebusiwa Olabode Victor was born on April 28, 1992, and he’s from Ilutitun in Ondo State.

A copy of the front page of his Nigerian passport was also included in the statement.

Ukrainian officials stated that Victor was killed in the Kharkiv region, close to an area known as Hrafske, after signing a contract to join the Russian side in late February.

This was about a week after Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned citizens to avoid getting involved in foreign conflicts, citing growing concerns about Nigerians being deceived with fake job offers and pushed into fighting roles abroad.

Before the warning, Ukraine said it had found the bodies of two other Nigerians in the Luhansk region, claiming they were also fighting for Russia in the war, which has now lasted four years.

Russia has consistently denied claims that it is secretly recruiting Nigerians and other Africans, describing such accusations as false.

“However, official moscow propaganda tells a different story. Mikhail Zvinchuk, a pro-war z-propagandist closely associated with the russian ministry of defense, publicly described the recruitment scheme for the war against Ukraine on the channel of one of the kremlin’s main propagandists, Vladimir Solovyov,” the Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence statement reads.

“He confirmed that residents of African countries are lured to Russia through fake job advertisements distributed via Facebook and WhatsApp.

“Victims are issued visas, provided one-way tickets, and promised employment. Upon arrival in moscow, they are met by an intermediary who confiscates their passports under the pretext of processing documents and places them in hostels.

“Within days, they discover that no job exists, their visas have been canceled, and they have no money to return home.

“They are then given a choice: deportation with debt, imprisonment, or signing a contract with the occupation army — the contents of which they often do not even understand due to the language barrier.”

Ukrainian authorities also claimed that at least 215 Nigerians have joined the Russian military under such arrangements, with no fewer than 25 either killed or missing in action.

The statement said that despite denials by Russian diplomats, Ukraine maintains that the number of Nigerians involved in the conflict continues to rise.

KanyiDaily had previously reported how a Nigerian man lost his life while fighting for Russia in the ongoing war against Ukraine.