From Cuba to Vietnam: Thousands of Foreign Nationals Killed Fighting for Russia

At least 3,586 foreign nationals from more than 40 countries have died fighting for Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a BBC investigation. The dead include convicts recruited from Russian prisons, migrants who claim they were coerced or tricked into joining, volunteers lured by high salaries, and regular North Korean troops deployed under an agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang. BBC Russian and the independent media outlet Mediazona tracked verified fatalities on the Russian side using open-source information, such as official announcements, social media posts featuring grave images, and documentation of war-related memorial events.

One name on the list is Edson Kamwesigye, a Ugandan national. According to his family, Edson believed he was travelling to Russia to work as a security officer. His wife, Carolina Mukuza, told the German newspaper Taz that the 45-year-old had previously worked as a security officer in Iraq and Afghanistan during the 2000s but had never been involved in direct combat. After overseas security work dried up, he returned to Uganda, where he worked as a taxi driver and tried farming, but his income was barely enough to support his wife and two children. In December 2025, Edson informed his family he had secured a new security job in Russia. However, on 16 January this year, he called his wife with different news. He asked her to pray for him as he was undergoing military training and would soon be sent to the front line. A week later, Kamwesigye was killed in Kupiansk, northeastern Ukraine, a death verified by BBC Russian. His wife is still trying to repatriate his body, but local media report that Ugandan authorities have refused to coordinate the process.

Kamwesigye is one of 1,285 foreign fighters in the Russian military whose deaths have been verified by the BBC. They hail from a range of countries, including Cuba, the United States, China, Vietnam, Poland, India, Nepal, Serbia, and others. Additionally, BBC Korea identified 2,304 North Korean soldiers killed through satellite imagery analysis and official photographs from military memorial ceremonies in Pyongyang. These soldiers died fighting Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of Russia, following Kyiv’s cross-border incursion in August 2024. The total number of foreign nationals fighting for Russia, including those still alive, is estimated to be several times higher than the verified figure. A senior NATO official told the BBC on the sidelines of the alliance’s summit in Ankara in July that approximately 24,000 foreign mercenaries from 44 countries are believed to be fighting in Russian ranks, with the majority coming from African nations. The official noted that likely hundreds of Africans have signed contracts, some voluntarily and others under duress.

A significant number of those killed are citizens of former Soviet republics, particularly from Central Asia. The BBC’s list does not include residents of Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia—Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia—who are fighting for Russia and are recorded separately. However, the list does include 25 Ukrainian citizens from other regions of Ukraine who died on the front lines while serving in Russian units, most of whom were recruited from penal colonies or correctional facilities. When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine did not end as quickly as anticipated in February 2022, the Kremlin soon faced a shortage of combat personnel. By mid-2022, convicts, including foreign nationals, were being offered the chance of release in exchange for fighting. This recruitment was initially carried out by the Wagner paramilitary group before being taken over by the Russian Ministry of Defence. The strategy particularly affected citizens of former Soviet republics, especially in Central Asia. For instance, more than half of the Uzbek and Tajik nationals killed in the war were recruited from Russian prisons. In 2024, Russian authorities significantly increased financial incentives for military enlistment. Payments vary by region, but recruits signing a contract with the Moscow city government are currently promised a signing bonus of US$30,000 and a monthly salary of around US$3,500, with combat bonuses potentially pushing total payments above US$72,300, compared to an average monthly salary in Russia of approximately US$760.