The Ukrainian Defence Intelligence (UDI) has revealed the identity of two Nigerian men, Hamzat Kazeem Kolawole and Mbah Stephen Udoka, reportedly killed while fighting as Russian mercenaries in the ongoing war between both countries.
In a statement on Thursday, the UDI released photographs of the Nigerians killed while defending Russia, saying: “In the Luhansk region, military intelligence operatives discovered the bodies of two citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Hamzat Kazeen Kolawole (03.04.1983) and Mbah Stephen Udoka (07.01.1988)”
The statement further said that both men served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (military unit 91701) of the 4th guards kantemirovskaya tank division of the armed forces of the Russian federation.
UDI said that they signed contracts with the Russian Army in the second half of 2025, Kolawole on August 29 and Udoka on September 28, adding, “Udoka received no training whatsoever — just five days later, on October 3, he was assigned to the unit and sent to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine”
Additionally, the report said that no training records for Kolawole have been preserved; however, it is highly likely that he also received no military training but his wife and three children remain in Nigeria.
Both Nigerians, the report added, were killed in late November during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region. “They never engaged in a firefight, the mercenaries were eliminated by a drone strike,” UDI stated
Warning foreign citizens against traveling to the Russian federation or taking up any work on the territory of the “aggressor state”, the UDI’s statement said: “A trip to Russia is a real risk of being forced into a suicide assault unit and, ultimately, rotting in Ukrainian soil.”
This disclosure by UDI is comes on the heels of Russian authorities denying any knowledge about Nigerians being recruited to fight on the frontlines for the President Vladimir Putin’s army
Addressing reporters in Abuja, on Tuesday, the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Andrey Podyolyshev, had claimed not being aware of any government-backed programme to recruit Nigerians to fight in the war against Ukraine, insisting that if at all such activity existed, it is not connected with the Russian state.
Only recently, worrying reports had emerged that four Nigerians, namely: Adam Anas, Akinlawon Tunde Quyuum, Abugu Stanley Onyeka and Balogun Ridwan Adisa, were killed on the frontlines. The deceased were said to have been recruited on the false pretence of “security job” but ended up being conscripted and deployed to the war front after three weeks of training.
Sources also claimed that the Nigerian fighters died on different dates between December 2025 and January 2026, hinting also that news about the four Nigerians’ death was first broken in a secret WhatsApp group opened by the African mercenaries.
The report claimed that the Russian Embassy in Abuja granted the Nigerian mercenaries a single-entry tourist visa without biometric capture and fulfilling other application requirements, adding that the mercenaries were promised a tempting monthly salary of 200,000 ruble (about 3.6million Naira) as well as allowances and other perks.
It was gathered on their arrival in Russia, the young men were allegedly forced into the military and given little training before being deployed to the frontline.
Aside claims that they were made to sign military service contracts in Russian without lawyers or translation provided, the sources further alleged that their passports confiscated, effectively making it impossible for the Nigerian recruits to flee the war-torn zone.
