Prigozhin Confirms That The Russian Student Who Died On Ukrainian Battlefield Was Fighting With Wagner

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close friend of Vladimir Putin, has confirmed that the Zambian student who died on the Ukrainian battlefield had been conscripted for his Wagner Private Military Group.

Russia had notified Zambia that Lemekhani Nyirenda, a Zambian student who had been studying in Russia before he was arrested, had died. However, it was unclear under what circumstances.

 Now, Mr Prigozhin has outlined that he had in fact been recruited by Wagner, whilst he toured Russian prisons offering amnesty in return for fighting.

He further described Mr Nyirenda as a “hero” who was “one of the first to break into the enemy trenches on Sept. 22.”

The Wagner Private Military group was believed to have been founded by former Russian army officer Dmitri Utkin.

The group had been named after his former callsign.

After years of denying his involvement in the group, recently, Mr Prigozhin announced that he had played a role in recruiting members for the group.

The group was first found fighting during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, then was seen in Syria and is now fighting on behalf of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.

Photo: Vedomosti/ East2west News