The body of a Zambian student who was killed in Ukraine fighting for Russia has been returned to his home country.
Lemekhani Nyirenda died in September but Russian officials only informed Zambian authorities last month. The 23-year-old, a student at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, had been serving nine years in prison for “a drug offence”. He was given an amnesty in exchange for fighting for Russia in Ukraine, according to the Zambian government.
Nyirenda, 23, was sponsored by the Zambian government to study nuclear engineering at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, according to the southern African country’s foreign ministry.
The ministry said the student was convicted in 2020 of unspecified crimes in Russia and sent to prison for nine years and six months, in a statement last month announcing his death.
