Reports that Russian officials are forcing African students—especially those from Nigeria—to fight in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine in exchange for extended visas have been refuted.
The report was branded as fake news by the Russian Embassy in Nigeria.
According to a Bloomberg story, in exchange for visa extensions, Russia was reportedly sending thousands of migrants and international students, including Nigerians, to fight alongside its military.
The report added that Russia has been threatening not to extend the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to join the military, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Moscow has also been enlisting convicts from its prisons while some Africans in Russia on work visas have been detained and forced to decide between deportation or fighting, one European official said. Some of those people had been able to bribe officials to stay in the country and still avoid military service, said the official, who, like other people cited, spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Embassy said in a statement on Wednesday, June 12, that the allegations were completely baseless. It clarified: “The Embassy of the Russian Federation is compelled to emphasize 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 aimed at undermining the friendship and cooperation between Russia and Nigeria.”