A Nigerian man, Kehinde Oluwagbemileke, who had been fighting alongside Russian forces in the ongoing Ukraine war, has been captured by Ukraine’s Freedom of Russia Legion, a paramilitary unit made up of Russian nationals siding with Kyiv.
According to Ukraine’s “I Want to Live” project, the 29-year-old was apprehended in the embattled Zaporizhzhia region after serving for five months in the Russian military. He is one of thousands of foreign nationals reportedly lured into Russia’s war effort under deceptive or coercive terms.
Oluwagbemileke had lived in Russia for four years before being imprisoned on drug-related charges. Rather than serve out his full term under Article 228 of the Russian Criminal Code, he said he was offered a deal by Russian authorities: enlist in the military, and your sentence is commuted.
According to The Guardian, in a transcribed video shared by the legion, using AI, Kehinde confirmed that he had been in the Russian prison when interrogated.
Yes, in prison, he confirmed during the interrogation conducted by Ukrainian forces. “And then they freed you?” the officer asked. “Yes,” he replied.
When asked why he joined the war, he said, “For quick liberation.” But what he found instead was chaos and bloodshed.
“It’s broken,” he said, pointing to his wounds. “Do you regret it?” the interrogator pressed. “Of course,” he answered.
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According to him, his unit went into battle with four members. “One 200, the rest 300,” he said, using Russian military slang where “200” signifies a soldier killed in action and “300” denotes wounded. “Lucky I’m alive,” he added.
Before the war, Kehinde worked as a translator, helping non-Russian speakers, many of them from Africa, South America, and China communicate in Russia.
“There are people from South America, Africans, and Chinese,” he explained. He noted that he had fought alongside four other Africans: “Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon.”
Asked whether his family in Nigeria knew he had gone to war, Kehinde said “No.”
The Ukrainian project “I Want to Live” reported that Kehinde is among a growing list of foreign nationals recruited by Russia as expendable manpower. “Kehinde is one of thousands of mercenaries from third countries recruited by Russia’s Defense Ministry to fight in Ukraine,” the organization stated.
“We’ve already published data on nearly 7,000 foreign fighters from 14 countries, but that’s only a small part of the foreigners the Kremlin has sent to die in Ukraine. All of them are cheap manpower, which is not spared.”
Just a week to Kehinde’s apprehension, Ukrainian forces captured another foreign fighter, Wang Wu, a 24-year-old Chinese national also fighting for the Russian army.
Below is the full conversation by The Guardian video transcription using AI:
Interviewer: Our stormtroopers have returned from a mission with an unusual trophy—Kehinde Oluwagbemileke. Apparently, due to a shortage of cannon fodder, Putin’s commanders are luring foreigners by deception to “defend the Motherland” in far-off Ukraine.
Interrogator: What is your passport?
Kehinde: Russian.
Interrogator: Russian passport?
Kehinde: Yes, Russian passport.
Interrogator: What did you do before?
Kehinde: Before?
Interrogator: Before joining the SVO. You joined the SVO?
Kehinde: Yes.
Interrogator: Why did you go to war?
Kehinde: For quick liberation.
Interrogator: Were you in prison?
Kehinde: Yes, in prison.
Interrogator: And then they freed you?
Kehinde: Yes.
Interrogator: How long have you been in the army?
Kehinde: Five months.
Interrogator: Five months? Where is your family?
Kehinde: In Nigeria.
Interrogator: In Nigeria? Does your family know you went to war?
Kehinde: No.
Interrogator: They don’t know? Do you regret it?
Kehinde: Of course.
Interrogator: Do you regret going?
Kehinde: Of course. It’s… broken. [points to wounds]
Interrogator: Broken. Most of them are 200s.
Kehinde: Yes, yes.
Interrogator: How many 200s do you have? How many from your unit are alive? How many died?
Kehinde: Well, we were four. We went. One 200, the rest 300.
Interrogator: One 200, the rest 300. Lucky to be alive.
Kehinde: Lucky I’m alive.
Interrogator: You are lucky, yes. What did you do before that?
Kehinde: Translator.
Interrogator: Translator?
Kehinde: Yes. English to Russian.
Interrogator: Who did you translate for?
Kehinde: For those who don’t speak Russian.
Interrogator: In Russian?
Kehinde: Yes. There are people from South America, Africans, and Chinese.
Interrogator: Many Chinese?
Kehinde: Well, there were five or six of them there.
Interrogator: And Africans?
Kehinde: Africans, four people. With me, five—Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon.
Interrogator: Did you come to study? Why Russia? You had nowhere else to go?
Kehinde: An adventure.
Interrogator: An adventure?
Medic: We’re going to inject you. This is an antibiotic, so your wounds don’t fester. Don’t flinch.
Kehinde: Oh. You’re so delicate everywhere. That’s good.
Medic: This is for the wounds.
Kehinde: Thank you. Thank you again. I am very grateful to the Freedom of Russia Legion for saving my life and providing assistance, as you can see. And thank you. Thank you again
