A Zambian resident who was previously in a Russian prison died in the war. The authorities of the African country demanded from the Russian Federation an explanation of how he got to the front

In the battles in Ukraine, a citizen of Zambia Lemehani Nathan Nyirenda, who was previously a prisoner in one of the Moscow colonies, died. BBC Russian Service writes about this with reference to the Zambian Foreign Ministry.

Nyirenda, 23, died on September 22, the diplomatic department said. Now his body is in Rostov-on-Don and is being prepared for shipment to Zambia.

Nyirenda, who studied at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison in April 2020 (the essence of his case was not specified in the Zambian Foreign Ministry). How he ended up in Ukraine is unclear.

The Zambian government demanded that the Russian Federation urgently provide information on the circumstances "under which a Zambian citizen who served a prison term in Moscow could be recruited for the war in Ukraine and then died."

• Prisoners of Russian colonies have been recruited since the summer to participate in the war in the ranks of the Wagner PMC. In exchange, they are promised amnesty and cash payments.
• In early November, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that allows people to be drafted into the army with an unexpunged or outstanding criminal record under serious articles.