UKRAINE, Apr. 23 — Russians sent a mercenary from Kenya to conduct a “suicidal assault” near Borova settlement in Kharkiv oblast, and he was killed by the Ukrainian mortar strike, reported Ukraine’s main intelligence agency (HUR). 

HUR writes that Nyambura Eric Mwangi, born in 2003, arrived in Yaroslavl, Russia, a city northeast of Moscow, in October 2025. He came there along with three other Kenyan citizens, and they signed contracts with the Russian army in Yaroslavl. He was identified by the Ukrainian project “Hochu zhyt” (“I want to live”).

After a week and a half of preparation in a training center, Mwangi was assigned to a position of radiotelephone operator and sent to the frontline. 

“However, he did not serve in his specialty — he was transferred to an assault unit,” Ukraine’s intelligence says. In Kharkiv oblast, he was sent to cross a “kill zone” — area, controlled by Ukraine’s drone units and other weaponry — in the Kharkiv region, where he came under mortar strikes. 

Although Moscow claims to have reached agreements reached with certain African countries on non-recruitment of their citizens, this process has not stopped. Ukraine’s intelligence says they have the personal data of 2,965 citizens of African countries who signed contracts with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

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