Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence has identified two Nigerian nationals whose bodies were discovered in eastern Ukraine after they were killed while serving with Russian forces, the agency said on Thursday.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2022 with a full-scale invasion by Russia, and military operations continue in eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (DIU) reported the discovery of the bodies in Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast, an area of ongoing hostilities in the Donbas region.
The two Nigerian men have been identified as Hamzat Kazeen Kolawole, 42, and Mbah Stephen Udoka, 37.
Both reportedly served with the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, part of the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division of the Russian Armed Forces.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence report, Kolawole signed a contract with the Russian military on August 29, 2025, and Udoka signed on September 28, 2025.
The DIU statement said Udoka was assigned to a unit on October 3, 2025, five days after signing his contract, and that no documents confirmed whether Kolawole received formal military training.
The bodies were found in late November 2025 in Luhansk Oblast after a drone strike killed the two men during an attempt to assault Ukrainian positions, according to the DIU report.
Kolawole is survived by his wife and three children in Nigeria, the intelligence report said.
The identification of the two Nigerians by Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence highlights instances of foreign nationals serving with Russian forces in the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine.
Their deaths follow a drone strike during a military engagement in the Luhansk region, as reported by Ukrainian authorities.
