The deaths of sixteen Cameroonian citizens who were fighting alongside the Russian military in Ukraine were reported on Monday.
On March 5, 2026, the Cameroonian Ministry of External Relations released a list of 16 names that it had received verbally from the Russian embassy in Yaoundé.
According to the document, these Cameroonian citizens died in the area of the so-called “special military operation,” which is the term used by Russia to refer to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022.
On Monday, national radio read the names of the 16 citizens. The deceased’s families were urged by the authorities to contact the government.
This is the first time that Yaoundé confirms the death of Cameroonian fighters involved with the Russian military in Ukraine.
In February, an investigation from the collective All Eyes on Wagner found that hundreds of African combatants enlisted in the Russian military between 2023 and mid-2025 had died.
With 94 deaths out of 335 fighters, Cameroon recorded the highest death toll among African contingents.
In November 2025, Kyiv said Moscow had recruited over 1,400 African nationals to fight in its war against Ukraine. Over the past months, several African countries including Kenya and South Africa have had to address cases of citizens allegedly tricked into joining Russian armed forces.
