Russia explains that 23-year-old Zambian student Lemekani Nyirenda died on the battle front while fighting in the Russia Ukraine war because Russian law allows prisoners to be provided an opportunity for pardon in exchange for participation in special military operations.
The Zambian Government had asked Russia to urgently provide information on how Mr Nyirenda, a government sponsored nuclear engineering student at the Moscow engineering physics institute, who had been serving a prison sentence in Moscow after being convicted for drug related charges, had ended up on the battlefield in Ukraine.
In a ministerial statement in Parliament this morning, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Stanley Kabuko disclosed that this information was according to the response he got from his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during a telephone conversation on 24th November 2022, adding that it was unfortunate that Mr Nyirenda was killed in September while participating in these activities.
“23-year-old Zambian student Lemekani Nyirenda who died on the battle front while fighting for Russia in Ukraine was conditionally pardoned on 23rd August 2022 in order to join the Russian sidelines, however, the government through the Zambian mission in Moscow was not informed about Mr Nyirenda`s enlistment for amnesty until the time of his demise,” he disclosed
Meanwhile, Mr Kakubo has announced that the remains of Mr Nyirenda will arrive in Lusaka on Sunday 11th December, 2022 accompanied by a representative from the Zambian embassy in Moscow.
