Tanzanian student killed on Ukraine frontline fighting for Russia's Wagner Group

Nemes Tamiro, a 33-year-old Tanzanian student has died in the frontlines of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

He was a student of the Russia Technological University who was jailed for drug-related offences.

His release from prison was conditioned on joining the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, and to accept deployment to Ukraine.

A family member confirmed the incident to the BBC Africa of how and why he joined the group.

"Nemes informed me and some other family members on joining Wagner, and we advised him not to, but he said he will join to have himself free," the family member said.

"We last communicated with him on 17 October last year, [when he was] already a member of Wagner," they added.

"We then got information from his friends over his death in late December and later we were officially informed by the Tanzania ambassador in Moscow,” they concluded.

He is the second African to have died in the war. The first being Zambian Lemekhani Nyirenda, also a student who died under similar circumstances.