The Cameroon government has confirmed the loss of 16 of its soldiers in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This revelation comes from the West African nation’s Foreign Ministry, which issued a statement via state media on Monday evening. The ministry has urged the families of the deceased to reach out to officials in Yaounde, the capital city.
This is the first time Cameroon has publicly addressed the involvement of its citizens in the Russia — Ukraine war. The confirmation of the soldiers’deaths follows the release of a diplomatic note from Cameroon, dated Monday, which was viewed by Reuters. The note referred to the fallen soldiers as “military contractors of Cameroonian nationality “who were operating in a special military operation zone, a term Russia employs to describe Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The statement and diplomatic note did not provide details on how the 16 soldiers ended up fighting for Russia, nor did they specify the location, timing, or circumstances of their deaths. In March 2025, Cameroon’s Defence Ministry issued an internal memo expressing concern over soldiers leaving the country to join the war in Ukraine. The memo instructed commanding officers to monitor their units closely.
Cameroon has made it clear that it does not officially deploy troops abroad outside of international or regional mandates and has warned its citizens against participating in foreign conflicts. The situation is not unique to Cameroon; Ukraine reported in February that more than 1,700 Africans were fighting for Russia, although analysts believe the actual number is higher. Several African countries have reported that some of their citizens were deceived into fighting for Russia with promises of well-paying jobs or skills training.
An intelligence report presented to Kenya’s parliament earlier this year indicated that 1,000 Kenyans were recruited to fight for Russia after being misled with false promises of employment. Two Nigerians were also killed late last year while fighting for Russia, according to Ukraine’s intelligence agency. Russian authorities have denied recruiting African citizens to fight in Ukraine.
In a separate development, young men from South Asia have joined the Russian army in its war against Ukraine, lured by promises of high salaries and benefits. India’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that at least 202 Indian nationals have been recruited into the Russian army, with at least 26 killed. Following demands by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russia agreed in August 2024 to release all Indian nationals from its army and confirmed that recruitment of Indian nationals had ceased. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported that 11,000-15,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Russia, with roughly 6,000 killed or wounded during the earlier stages of the conflict.
Source: aljazeera
