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Central African Republic mercenary fighting for Russia killed in Kursk region

Derrick Ngamana. Photo: Sistema

Derrick Ngamana. Photo: Sistema

A mercenary from the Central African Republic (CAR) has died fighting for Russia in the country’s western Kursk region, the Russian language service of RFE/RL, Sistema, confirmed on Wednesday.

Sistema said its staff had seen a death certificate and other documentation corroborating the death of 32-year-old Derrick Ngamana on 15 November in fighting for the village of Novoivanovka in the Sudzha district of the Kursk region, where he had been serving with the Pacific Fleet’s 155th Separate Marine Brigade.

According to Forbes, the brigade suffered significant losses as Russian forces attempted to reconquer territory lost to the Armed Forces of Ukraine since it launched a surprise incursion into the region in August.

An anonymous source told Sistema that there were “plenty of Africans fighting in the region”. Ngamana, who was previously a corporal in the CAR army, according to Sirena, is the first CAR citizen known to have died in fighting in the Kursk region.

Ngamana previously sought help from a family friend, a CAR diplomat based in Moscow, to gain entry to a Russian university, explaining that he couldn’t afford the fees by himself. However, Ngamana’s brother said that he had decided to enlist in the Russian army in September 2024 after his plan to study went nowhere.

The CAR, a former French colony and one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, has been in a state of civil war since 2012, with Russian mercenaries, including those from the notorious Wagner Group, fighting on the side of the government forces.

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