In Zambia, the death of the student killed in Ukraine raises many questions
The family of the Zambian student accompanies his body to Lusaka, December 11, 2022. AFP - SALIM DAWOOD
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1 min
The body of Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda arrived this Sunday, December 11 at Lusaka airport, before being transferred to the morgue of the main hospital in the capital, where investigations into the circumstances of his death are underway.
A case that arouses a lot of emotion on the spot.
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The death of Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda continues to raise many questions in Zambian opinion.
On social networks, there are many messages about this 23-year-old student,
recruited by the Wagner group in a Russian prison
and killed on the Ukrainian front.
“
People are wondering how a student of nuclear engineering ended up fighting a war in which Zambia is not even involved
,” said a resident of the capital Lusaka
.
They asked the government to find out how this could have happened, how it could have ended up on the front lines.
»
Before the Zambian Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Stanley Kakubo gave a first element of response: it was last August that the young man, then in prison in Russia, was offered to be "pardoned" in
exchange
for participation in "
special military operations
" on the Ukrainian front.
The Zambian government has asked Russia to “
urgently
” provide further details on the circumstances of his death.
Possible compensation for the family is being discussed between the two governments.
►
To read also: War in Ukraine: how the Wagner group recruits in Russian prisons
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