From Uganda to America: The foreigners dying in Russia's war

At least 3,589 foreign nationals from more than 40 countries have been killed fighting on Russia’s side since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, according to a BBC investigation.

They include prisoners recruited in Russian jails, migrants who say they were coerced or deceived, volunteers attracted by high salaries, and regular North Korean troops sent under an agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang.

BBC News Russian and an independent outlet Mediazona are keeping a list of verified Russian losses, using open-source information such as official announcements, social media posts and pictures of graves and war memorials.

One of those on our list is Edson Kamwesigye from Uganda. According to his family, he thought he was going to Russia to work as a security guard.

The 45-year-old Ugandan had worked as a guard in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s, but he had never taken part in actual combat, his wife Caroline Mukuza told journalists.

After overseas security work dried up, he returned to Uganda, where he drove a taxi and tried farming. The money was barely enough to support his wife and two children.

In December 2025, he told his family he had found another security job, this time in Russia. But on 16 January this year, he called his wife with different news.

“He asked me to pray for him because he was undergoing military training and would soon be sent to the front,” she told the German newspaper Taz.

A week later, Kamwesigye was killed near Kupiansk in north-eastern Ukraine, BBC News Russian was able to verify.

His wife is still trying to bring his body home. Local media reported that the Ugandan authorities had declined to arrange its return. At least two other Ugandans fighting for Russia had been killed by June 2026, Ugandan media reported.