• Zambia Foreign Minister has urged Russia to explain how its resident ended up on the battlefield in Ukraine.
• Lemekhani Nyirenda was serving a prison sentence at a medium-security prison outside Moscow.
• It was unclear how and by whom the prisoner was recruited.

Zambia has urged Russia to explain how one of its residents who was serving a prison sentence in Moscow ended up on the battlefield in Ukraine, where he was killed, the Foreign Minister of Zambia said Monday.

Stanley Kakubo stated in a statement that Russia had informed Zambia about Lemekhani Nyirenda’s death in September but did not disclose details.

Kakubo stated that the Zambian student was serving a prison sentence at a medium-security prison on the outskirts of Moscow after being convicted of violating Russian law in April 2020. He did not specify the specific violation.

“The Zambian government has requested the Russian authorities to urgently provide information on the circumstances under which a Zambian citizen, serving a prison sentence in Moscow, could have been recruited to fight in Ukraine,” Kakubo said.

It was unclear how and by whom the prisoner was recruited. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the circumstances surrounding his death.

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The student’s father, Edwin Nyirenda, stated, “He was serving the prison sentence when he was conscripted into the army to go and fight in Ukraine but we don’t know who conscripted him.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the circumstances surrounding his trip to Ukraine and subsequent death.

According to Kakubo, the 23-year-old student of nuclear engineering at a Moscow university was convicted and sentenced to nine years and six months in prison.

His father stated that Lemekhani was imprisoned for drug trafficking while working as a courier.

According to Edwin Nyirenda, his son was handed a package containing illegal substances, but the authorities were unable to identify the sender.

Kakubo stated that once official communication regarding the circumstances behind the death of the Zambian was obtained from the Russian authorities, further information will be supplied.

Kakubo stated that his remains have been moved to the Russian border city of Rostov in preparation for repatriation to Zambia.

“We just received a message from a man we do not know in Russia who told us that there was a will, which our son left and we should travel to Russia,” said Nyirenda.

The family stated that they intended to travel to Russia in order to identify the body.

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