Ukraine army holds Somalia national captured alongside Russians
The captured Somali national joins a growing list of African nationals reportedly recruited for the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Ukrainian defence force is holding a Somalia national, described as a mercenary, following his capture three days ago near Avdiivka.
According to Armiya TV, the man was found with a Somalia passport and barely understood Russian and Ukrainian.
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“The prisoner surrendered together with Russian soldiers “ the TV report said.
Reports indicated that Somali national reached the frontlines at the end of December before surrendering as a prisoner.
Early last December, the BBC reported that Russia was luring migrants from the Finnish border for its war with Ukraine.
The BBC claimed to have seen evidence of several cases in which foreigners were rushed to a military camp at the border with Ukraine days after they were picked up for breaching immigration laws.
According to the report, the practice of coercing people in pre-deportation detention centers to sign contracts for army service in Ukraine was not new but the numbers swelled as foreign migrants arrived at Russia’s 1340km-border with Finland.
The development forced Finland to temporarily close all eight of its Russia border crossings.
The captured Somali national joins a growing list of African nationals reportedly recruited for the Russia-Ukraine war.
On October 24, 2022, Tanzanian student Nemes Raymond Tarimo, aged between 33 and 37 by different accounts, was killed while fighting for Russia's Wagner Group in the Eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut.
Tanzanian media reported that Tarimo was arrested on drug-related charges in Russia and forcefully recruited into the war.
In September 2022, Zambian Lemkhani Nyirenda, a 23-year-old student at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, died in Ukraine while fighting for Wagner.
The student had been serving nine years in prison for a drug offence and was reportedly promised freedom on condition that he would join the war.
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