Russia Dismisses Claim of Recruiting Nigerian Students For Ukranian War

The Russian Embassy in Nigeria has debunked the claims of recruiting African students, particularly Nigerians, to participate in the ongoing war in Ukraine for visa extensions.

Recent report by Bloomberg’s indicted Russia of purportedly soughting to enlist thousands of migrants and foreign students to reinforce its troops in the war against Ukraine.

Yevgeny Primakov, Head of Rossotrudnichestvo, an organisation focused on spreading knowledge about Russia abroad, estimated that there are currently 35,000-37,000 African students in Russia.

Russian embassy labelled such reports as entirely fake news, warning against misguided information that could trigger conflicts on the educational tie between Russia and Nigeria.

According to the embassy’s statement, "no association of Nigerian students in Russia has confirmed the allegations as Nigerian students reportedly face no difficulties in extending their visas while pursuing their studies in Russia."

The embassy commended the efforts of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Association of Nigerian Students in Moscow for debunking the false claims and reaffirmed its commitment to fostering friendship and cooperation between Russia and Nigeria.

The statement read, “The Embassy of the Russian Federation is compelled to emphasise that such news is not only false but also damages Russian-Nigerian educational cooperation by misleading numerous scholarship and grant applicants as well as their partners, who could be extremely concerned by such fakes.

“The Embassy states that Nigerian students face no difficulties in extending their visas while continuing their studies in Russia. Numerous associations of Nigerian students in Russia have not reported any issues in obtaining the necessary documentation to continue their stay in the country.

“The Embassy welcomes the official press release of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter and expresses gratitude to the Ministry and the Association of Nigerian Students in Moscow for their efforts in debunking the fake news."