Zambian Citizen Dies in Ukraine While Serving Sentence in Moscow

The Zambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the death of its citizen in Ukraine via Facebook.

It was noted that 23-year-old Lemehani Nathan Nirenda, a Zambian citizen, was studying nuclear physics at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI) on a government scholarship and was later sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. He reportedly died in Ukraine on September 22, 2022.

“The ministry regrets to announce that Mr. Nirenda's death was reported on November 9, 2022, at the front line of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” stated Minister Stanley Kakubo.

According to a message published on social media, the Zambian diplomatic service has verified the accuracy of this information and confirmed the fact of Nirenda's death. According to the ministry, his body has been transferred to Rostov for later repatriation to Zambia.

The statement also mentioned that the Zambian government has requested information from Russian authorities on how their citizen ended up in the area of the Russian special operation and died while serving his sentence in Moscow. Currently, there has been no confirmation of this information from Russian authorities.

On September 30, the Bashkortostan parliament submitted a bill to the State Duma discussing allowing prisoners to participate in the military special operation in Ukraine.