Zambian killed in Ukraine was employed as Russian mercenary

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin says a Zambian student who was serving a prison sentence in Russia and was killed fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine had been employed by his mercenary group. Prigozhin said on Russian social media app VKontake on Tuesday that the student, 23 year-old Lemekhane Nyireda, “died a hero.” Zambian Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo said earlier this month that Russian officials had informed the Zambian government of the death of Nyireda. He was a government-sponsored student before he was sentenced in Russia for unspecified crimes in April 2020.