At least 3,589 foreigners have died fighting for Russia, including Serbian citizens.

At least 3,589 foreign nationals from more than 40 countries have died fighting on the side of Russia since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, a BBC investigation has found. Among them are at least 13 Serbian nationals, as well as one Bosnian citizen.

The BBC Russian Service was able to confirm by name and based on publicly available data the deaths of 1,285 foreign mercenaries and volunteers engaged in Russian units. Another 2,304 dead are North Korean soldiers, identified by the BBC Korean Service through analysis of satellite images, official photographs and memorials erected in Pyongyang.

The figures from the BBC and independent Russian media outlet Mediazon are based on official announcements, social media posts from family and friends, and photographs of graves and military memorials. Researchers warn that the true death toll is likely much higher, as many deaths have never been publicly confirmed.

Among the foreigners who died on the Russian side, there are prisoners recruited into penal institutions, economic migrants, volunteers attracted by high salaries, but also people who claim to have been deceived and arrived in Russia expecting a job in construction, security or other civilian activities.

I went to work as a security guard, and ended up at the front.

One of the cases investigated by the BBC is the fate of Edson Kamwesigye from Uganda.

According to his family, Kamwesigye believed he was going to Russia to work as a security guard. He has previously worked in Iraq and Afghanistan, but, according to those closest to him, he never took part in combat.

In December 2025, he told his family that he had found a job in Russia.

Just a few weeks later, he called his wife and told her that he was undergoing military training and would soon be sent to the front.

"He asked me to pray for him because he is undergoing military training and will soon be sent to the front," his wife Caroline Mukuza told the German newspaper Tageskeitung.

Kamwesigye died a week later near Kupyansk, in northeastern Ukraine. His family is still trying to return his body to Uganda, with local media reporting that authorities have refused to arrange transport.

The BBC reports that by June 2026, at least two more Ugandan citizens had died fighting on the Russian side.

Most foreigners from poorer countries

Among the dead foreign nationals are citizens of Cuba, China, Vietnam, Poland, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Central Asian countries and many African countries.

A senior NATO official told the BBC's Russian service at the Alliance summit in Ankara that Russian forces include approximately 24,000 foreign fighters from 44 countries.

According to him, the largest number comes from Africa.

"Probably hundreds of Africans signed the contracts. Some did so voluntarily and some were forced," a NATO official told the BBC.

According to the BBC, foreign fighters come to Russia in different ways. Some openly sign contracts with the military for money, while others claim they were only told upon arrival that they had to undergo military training.

The British agency Reuters and the International Federation for Human Rights previously reported on efforts to recruit people from the poorest African countries, as well as pressures on migrants already living in Russia.

Serbian citizens killed

According to the BBC, at least 13 Serbian citizens were among the foreign fighters confirmed dead.

The full list of their names was not published, but individual cases had previously reached the public through local and regional media, posts from fellow fighters, and social media.

One of the most famous cases is that of Uroš Prvulović from Kruševci, whom the newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija reported in 2023 as having been killed in the fighting for Bakhmut, which the Russian side calls Artyomovsk.

The news of his death was later announced by Dejan Berić, a Serbian fighter on the Russian side, stating that Prvulović's body was found ten days after his death.

Prvulovich went to Luhansk in 2014 and was a member of pro-Russian formations. Later, he joined Wagner and took part in battles near Debaltseve, Severodonetsk, Lisichansk, Popasna and Bakhmut.

In September 2024, the newspaper Blic also reported that Strahinja Bjelica from Belgrade had died on the battlefield. According to this source, Bjelica was 30 years old and sent his family photos and videos from the front. His father publicly said goodbye to his son after his death.

The Independent newspaper writes about the death of a man from Banja Luka known as the “Ghost from Republika Srpska.” His identity has not been officially confirmed, but friends claimed he was killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine.

According to social media posts, he traveled to Russia from Banja Luka, underwent training, and was associated with Wagner since December 2022. The death was allegedly confirmed by a friend known by the nickname "Pitbull", but there was no official confirmation from Russian authorities.

The death of Emrah Zornić from Novi Pazar in 2023 was also mentioned in the media. However, the circumstances of his death remained unclear. Some local sources claimed that he was not a fighter, but that he was helping the wounded or working as a paramedic. Therefore, it is not possible to confidently classify him among the members of the Russian armed formations without additional confirmation.

Participation of Serbian citizens in a war in another country is a criminal offense under amendments to the Criminal Code adopted in 2014. Despite this, individuals from Serbia and Republika Srpska have gone to Donbas since the beginning of the conflict in 2014, and some of them later joined regular Russian or mercenary units.

Prisoners were offered freedom

When it became clear that the war would not end soon, Russia began recruiting prisoners, including foreign nationals, in mid-2022.

Initially, the recruitment was organized by the private military group Wagner, and later the Russian Ministry of Defense took over the work, according to the BBC.

Prisoners were offered freedom in exchange for going to the front. This model was most often applied to citizens of former Soviet republics, especially Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. More than half of the dead citizens of these two countries went to war directly from Russian prisons.

During 2024, Russian authorities further increased monetary fees for signing military contracts. Recruits in Moscow were offered about $30,000 upon signing and approximately $3,500 per month.

When including payments for being in the combat zone, earnings in the first year of service can exceed $72,000, while the average monthly net salary in Russia is around $760, according to the BBC.

The special case of North Korea

The North Korean soldiers differ from other foreign fighters because they did not come individually, but were sent to Russia by decision of the authorities in Pyongyang.

Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defense agreement in June 2024, and North Korean units are mainly engaged in Russia's Kursk region.

The BBC Korean Service has identified 2,304 dead North Korean soldiers based on satellite images and photographs of a military cemetery in Pyongyang.

In May 2026, a monument to soldiers who died fighting on the Russian side was inaugurated in the North Korean capital.

The GeoPost