Russia is looking into the death of a Zambian student on the front line in Ukraine after the African country asked for an explanation.
Zambia asked Russia on Monday to explain how Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda, a 23-year-old who had been serving a prison sentence in Moscow, had ended up on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was working to establish the circumstances surrounding the death, the Tass news agency reported.
Zambia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Nyirenda's death in a Facebook post on Monday.
It said Nyirenda, who had been studying nuclear engineering at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, had died "at the battlefront of the conflict" between Russia and Ukraine on September 22.
Nyirenda’s remains have been transported to the Russian border town of Rostov to be repatriated, the post said.
Nyirenda had been serving a sentence of nine years and six months at a medium-security prison on the outskirts of Moscow after being convicted of a crime in Russia, said Zambia's Foreign Affairs Minister Stanley Kakubo.
The offence, which was not revealed officially, took place in April 2020. Nyirenda's father Edwin Nyirenda said the student was jailed for drug trafficking while working part-time as a courier. It was not clear how the prisoner was recruited to the front line.
"He was serving the prison sentence when he was conscripted into the army to go and fight in Ukraine but we don't know who conscripted him," his father said.
Mr Kakubo said: "The Zambian government has requested the Russian authorities to urgently provide information on the circumstances under which a Zambian citizen, serving a prison sentence in Moscow, could have been recruited to fight in Ukraine."
Russia's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the circumstances of Nyirenda’s journey to Ukraine and subsequent death.
Edwin Nyirenda said his son was given a parcel containing drugs and the police were not able to identify the person who gave it to him.
Ukraine war in pictures
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Smoke rises on the outskirts of the city during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Workers surround the Monument to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred with sandbags against damage from shelling in Mykolaiv. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for talks before a meeting between the Russian president and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia. AFP -
People take water from a water pump in Kyiv. EPA -
A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Reuters -
A woman outside her home, which was destroyed during battles at the start of the conflict, in Yahidne, Chernihiv. Getty Images -
People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Firefighters at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A woman walks past the site of a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Rescuer workers at a building destroyed in an attack in Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Parts of a drone lie on a street in Kyiv. Reuters -
A drone flies over the Ukrainian capital during an attack. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen tow a captured Russian armoured vehicle in Rudneve village, Kharkiv. EPA -
A partially destroyed residential building in Saltivka, in Kharkiv. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen fire a captured Russian howitzer on a front line near Kupyansk city, Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen near the recently retaken town of Lyman in Donetsk region. AFP -
An officer from a Ukrainian national police emergency demining team prepares to detonate collected anti-tank mines and explosives near Lyman, in the Donetsk region. AFP -
A boy playing on a destroyed Russian tank on display in Kyiv. AFP -
A young couple hiding underground during an air alert in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Ukrainian firefighters looking for survivors after a strike in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Workers fix a banner reading 'Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!' to the State Historical Museum near Red Square in Moscow. AFP -
Residents try to cross a destroyed bridge in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AFP -
Alyona Kishinskaya helps to clean up a shop as it prepares to reopen in Balakiya, Ukraine, after a six-month Russian occupation. Getty Images -
Alla, 12, has a swinging time in Balakiya, Ukraine, as life goes on despite the war. Getty Images -
Ukrainian flags in the town square in Balakiya. Getty Images -
A destroyed Russian command centre in Izium, Ukraine. Getty Images -
In what may be a final farewell, young Russian recruits - escorted by their wives - walk to a train station in Volgograd before being sent to war in Ukraine. AP -
Russian recruits board the train to Ukraine in Volgograd. AP -
Ukrainian soliders drive a tank at the recently retaken eastern side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. AFP -
Volunteers pass boxes of food aid on a destroyed bridge over the Oskil River. AFP -
Ukrainian soliders rest on an armoured personnel carrier. AFP -
A sign warns of landmines in Izyum, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
This crater was left after a missile strike in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. AFP
