African Young Man Killed in Ukraine Was a Member of Wagner Group, Prigozhin Says

Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has confirmed the death of Lemehani Nathan Nirenda, a 23-year-old citizen of Zambia, who participated in military operations in Ukraine as part of the Wagner Group. The African student joined the organization while in prison. Prigozhin's statement was released by the press service of his Concord company, as reported by RTVI.

Prigozhin stated that he “vividly remembers this guy,” with whom he conversed in the Tver region. According to Prigozhin, he asked Nirenda why he decided to participate in military operations despite the significant risk of death, as well as the possibility of leaving the prison “a few years earlier.”

Prigozhin claims that Nirenda responded by saying that fighting within the group was a great honor for him. “The Wagner Group saves thousands of Africans, and if I fight with you, it might be less than I can do to pay our debts. And if I survive, I will learn to fight for my homeland,” the young man reportedly told the businessman.

The death of the Zambian student, who was studying nuclear engineering at the Moscow Institute of Engineering Physics, became known on November 14, 2022. This information was shared by the African country’s Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo on the department's Facebook page.