Cameroon has reported the deaths of 16 of its citizens who fought in the war against Ukraine on the side of Russia. This is the first public acknowledgement of Camerooniansʼ participation in hostilities on the side of Russia.
Reuters reports this with reference to a diplomatic note from the country.
The document dated April 6 calls the deceased "military contractors of Cameroonian nationality who were operating in the zone of a ʼspecial military operationʼ against Ukraine".
On the same day, the Cameroonian Foreign Ministry called on the relatives of the deceased to contact the department for clarification. However, the statement and note do not explain how these citizens ended up in the war and under what circumstances they died.
According to Ukrainian data, more than 1 700 Africans were fighting on Russiaʼs side in the war against Ukraine in February. However, analysts suggest that the real number may be higher. Moscow denies illegal recruitment of foreigners.
Internal Cameroonian documents seen by journalists, as early as 2025, expressed concern about citizens traveling to combat zones and participating in the war on the side of Russia.
Russian mercenaries in foreign countries
In the full-scale war against Ukraine, mercenaries from at least 48 countries are fighting on Russiaʼs side. In Moscow alone, more than 1 500 foreigners could be recruited into the Russian army from April 2023 to May 2024.
There are currently established facts of recruitment into the Russian army of citizens of Nepal and Somalia. The Russian Federation has also recruited into its army illegal migrants from the Finnish border who were trying to enter the EU through Russia.
As for the citizens of Nepal and India, some of them are already in captivity or have died. There are already videos on social media showing Africans as part of the Russian occupation forces in Ukraine.
The Kremlin also cooperates with the North Korean army — its soldiers are involved in fighting in the Kursk region. In September 2023, a scheme to recruit mercenaries for the war in Ukraine on the side of the occupiers was exposed in Cuba.
In April 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky said that two Chinese citizens who fought as part of the Russian army were captured in the Donetsk region.
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