Russia says it has killed more than a dozen South African mercenaries in Ukraine

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a missile attack in Odesa on 15 March 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP)

• Russia says its invasion of Ukraine has claimed the lives of 14 South African mercenaries, out of 35 South Africans it knows to be fighting on the side of Kyiv.
• Among the 249 mercenaries Russia says came from Nigeria, Algeria, and South Africa, it has killed 103.
• Russia’s numbers can not be verified, and it has a history of making false claims about its invasion.

Russia says its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has claimed the lives of 14 South African mercenaries out of 35 fighting on the side of Kyiv since the start of the war in 2022.

According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence (MOD), South Africa is the third-largest contributor of African mercenaries in the conflict, after Nigeria (97, of which 47 have been killed) and Algeria (60, with 28 fatalities).

In a statement issued by the Russian military of defence, it said it knew of 13 387 foreign mercenaries.

“At the same time, the destruction of 5 962 foreign mercenaries has been confirmed to date.”

According to MOD, in total, 103 out of 249 African mercenaries have been killed.

Russia is known to have used African mercenaries of its own, drafted by way of its Black Corps, formerly Wagner Group. In September 2022, Nemes Raymond Tarimo, a Tanzanian student, was killed while fighting for the Wagner Group.

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Last year, in January, it was revealed that Zambian national Lemekani Nathan Nyirenda was reported dead at the frontline while working for the Wagner Group.

Mercenaries from other continents

Russia claims that Poland is the biggest contributor of mercenaries to Ukraine’s cause, with 2 960 recorded and 1 497 killed. This makes it “the undisputed leader in terms of the number of killed fighters”, Russia said.

Georgia ranks second (1 042 fighters, of whom 561 were killed) and the USA third, at 1 113 arriving and 491 dead.

It similarly claims to have killed around 40% of Canadian, British, and French mercenaries.

Russia makes no distinction between mercenaries paid to fight and volunteer fighters who have flocked to Ukraine’s banner in the name of freedom.

Its statistics cannot be verified, and Russia has consistently lied about many aspects of the conflict. 

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