Ukraine has announced the death of another Nigerian, reportedly killed while fighting alongside Russian mercenaries against Ukrainian forces.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence identified the fallen as Ayebusiwa Olabode Victor, born April 28, 1992, with his passport’s front page attached to their statement. Originally from Ilutitun in Ondo State, Victor was reportedly killed in the Kharkiv region near Hrafske.

The alert came after he signed a mercenary contract in late February—just a week after Nigeria’s foreign ministry issued a warning against illegal recruitment into foreign conflicts, citing increasing cases of Nigerians being lured abroad under false pretenses and forced into combat.

Prior to this, Ukraine had found the bodies of two Nigerians in its Luhansk region, believed to have been fighting for Russia. Moscow has consistently denied recruiting Africans, including Nigerians, for its military efforts.

“However, official Moscow propaganda tells a different story. Mikhail Zvinchuk, a pro-war z-propagandist closely associated with the russian ministry of Defence, publicly described the recruitment scheme for the war against Ukraine on the channel of one of the Kremlin’s main propagandists, Vladimir Solovyov,” the Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence statement reads.

“He confirmed that residents of African countries are lured to Russia through fake job advertisements distributed via Facebook and WhatsApp.

“Victims are issued visas, provided one-way tickets, and promised employment. Upon arrival in Moscow, they are met by an intermediary who confiscates their passports under the pretext of processing documents and places them in hostels.

“Within days, they discover that no job exists, their visas have been cancelled, and they have no money to return home.

“They are then given a choice: deportation with debt, imprisonment, or signing a contract with the occupation army — the contents of which they often do not even understand due to the language barrier.”

Ukrainian authorities have reported that at least 215 Nigerians have entered into contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. Of these, no fewer than 25 are either reported killed or missing in action. The statement additionally noted that, despite denials from Russian diplomats, the number of Nigerian mercenaries within the occupying forces continues to rise.