Equatorial Guinean student details forced recruitment into Russian military

Daniel Angel Masie Nchama, a 22-year-old computer science student from Equatorial Guinea, has detailed how he was coerced into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine. Nchama reports that he traveled to Russia in late 2025 after being promised military training for a career as a bodyguard. Upon arrival, he and other African recruits were allegedly forced to sign Russian-language documents at gunpoint, after which their passports were confiscated.

Nchama describes experiencing extreme hunger, freezing temperatures, and constant fear of death during his two months on the front lines. He stated that after being assigned to a battalion of 424 soldiers in Donetsk, he was the sole survivor of his unit following a missile strike. He also noted that his group included men from Cameroon, Nigeria, Libya, and Colombia.

Ukrainian authorities estimate that approximately 1,800 Africans have been recruited for Russian troops. The investigative collective All Eyes on Wagner previously identified 1,417 Africans recruited by Moscow between January 2023 and September 2025, noting that over 300 of these individuals were killed.