Russia: how African nationals are enrolled in prison by Wagner
Audio 01:11
Elements of the Wagner group in front of the brand new building inaugurated in Saint Petersburg.
November 04, 2022. REUTERS - IGOR RUSSAK
Text by: Pauline Le Troquier
2 mins
In recent months, Yevgeny Prigogine, the head of the paramilitary group, has offered several African detainees in Russia to be released and have their sentences canceled in exchange for their participation in the war in Ukraine.
Since the start of the conflict, at least three African nationals have been recruited by Wagner.
Their arrival is facilitated by historic partnerships between Moscow and several countries on the continent.
Explanations.
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“
If you fight for six months, you are free.
When approached
by Wagner in prison, Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda, a 23-year-old Zambian, and Nemes Tarimo, a 33-year-old Tanzanian, accepted the offer made by the paramilitary group.
They had been convicted in two separate cases of drug possession while studying in Moscow.
Mobilized as “
assault soldiers
” on the front line of the fighting, they were killed between September and October last.
► To read also: The Wagner group claims the recruitment of a young Zambian who died in Ukraine
On January 24, the Tanzanian government released the death of Nemes Tarimo after receiving confirmation of reports from Russian authorities.
The man had settled in 2020 in Moscow where he was studying at the Academy of Technology.
“
After his studies in Russia, he returned to Tanzania, he wanted to be an MP for the opposition party.
But that did not work.
He returned to Moscow to make his life there
,” says Pauline Bax, director of the Africa program at the International Crisis Group.
A recruit presenting himself as Ivorian
The long-term settlement of young African nationals in Russia is facilitated by historical university partnerships between Moscow and several countries on the continent, including Zambia and Tanzania.
A tradition that dates back to the Cold War.
“
At that time, many Russians who worked in civil engineering came to give courses in universities
,” explains Pauline Bax.
In early January, another recruit who claims to be of Ivorian nationality was identified.
In a video relayed on social networks
, the young man, who stands alongside Evguéni Prigojine (the founder of Wagner), is filmed in combat gear.
He speaks in Russian and specifies that he too was recruited in prison.
"
They get a little training but it doesn't take long
"
Recurrent but summary methods.
Before fighting, "
they receive a little training but it doesn't take long, maybe a few weeks or a few months, no more [...] the risk is enormous
," says the researcher.
Yevgeny Prigogine himself was in a penal colony.
Pauline Bax, director of the Africa program at the International Crisis Group
Pauline Le Troquier
The war in Ukraine has been going on for almost a year.
For six months, the Wagner group has been scouring Russian penal centers to recruit hundreds of national or foreign prisoners.
► To read also: War in Ukraine: how the Wagner group recruits in Russian prisons
After confirming the death of one of its nationals, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Stergomena Tax urged citizens not to "
join any armies or armed groups in other countries
".
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