A Tanzanian citizen recruited from a Russian prison by the paramilitary group Wagner was killed in fighting in Ukraine in October, the Tanzanian foreign minister said on Tuesday (January 24th).
Nemes Tarimo, who had been studying in Russia since 2020, was arrested in March 2022 and was serving a seven-year prison sentence, for reasons that have not been disclosed.
Enlisted by Wagner for reward
"
We have received information from the Russian government that when Tarimo was in prison he was given the opportunity to join the Wagner group on the promise of receiving money and being released after the war
," he said on Tuesday. to the press the Minister, Stergomena Tax.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: these Wagner fighters, conscripted in prison and treated as heroes on their return
“
Tarimo agreed and he was taken to Ukraine where he was killed on October 24,
” she continued.
"
It is illegal for any Tanzanian citizen to join a foreign army,
" the minister also said.
Active recruitment
In recent months, has largely recruited men from Russian prisons to fight on the front lines in Ukraine against the promise of reduced sentences and attractive stipends.
Since 2014, this group has been accused of serving the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime in the shadows and of committing abuses in many conflict zones, particularly in Syria and Africa.
In September, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigojine admitted having founded this organization after years of denial and is now operating in Russia with an open face, a sign of a certain rise in power.
A Zambian student, Lemekhani Nyirenda, 23, who was serving a prison sentence near Moscow for a drug affair, was killed in September in Ukraine, after having also been recruited by Wagner.
