UGANDA EMBASSY CONFIRMS 11 NATIONALS DEAD IN RUSSIAN ARMY, 16 MISSING

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The Ugandan Embassy in Moscow has confirmed the deaths of 11 Ugandans who enlisted in the Russian army, while 16 others are missing and presumed dead, according to an official communication to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In an October 17th, 2026 letter, Uganda’s Head of Mission in Moscow, Ambassador Moses K. Kizige, said the Russian government had provided information on Ugandans believed to be serving in the zone of what Russia calls its “special military operations.”

The embassy said the Russian authorities confirmed that 11 Ugandans had died, while another 16 were missing, with their whereabouts unknown. The missing individuals were reportedly considered dead, although their bodies had not been found. “They are also not known to be prisoners of war,” Kizige wrote in the communication addressed to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The information was provided in a response from the Russian government dated October 8, 2026, following a request by the Ugandan embassy on August 19. Kizige said the embassy initiated the inquiry after several telephone conversations in August with Innocent Kato, whom he described as the principal petitioner representing families of Ugandans believed to be serving in the Russian military.

Kato supplied passport details for some of the individuals, which the embassy verified with Uganda’s Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration before submitting the request to the Russian authorities. The embassy also reported that five Ugandans were still serving in the Russian army and would be discharged when their contracts expire.

They are Rogers Mwebaze, Evarist Barigye, Honest Mugabi, Eric Kisakye and Ronald Samula Tenywa. Another Ugandan, Robert Tumwebaze, was reportedly dismissed from the Russian armed forces. According to Kizige, Tumwebaze had been taken to the embassy by staff after being discharged from a military hospital in Nizhny Novgorod but reportedly ran away from embassy staff at a railway station.

The ambassador urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urgently notify the families of the deceased to enable them to begin claiming benefits due to them. He also raised concern that the families of three other Ugandans whose deaths had previously been confirmed by Russia had not contacted the embassy. The three are Baker Mwesigye, Alex Mutesigensi and Edson Kamwesigye.

Kizige said the Russian Ministry of Defence had confirmed their deaths and the information had already been forwarded to Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The embassy further urged families seeking information about relatives believed to be in the Russian military to submit their passport details to facilitate tracing and verification.

The communication highlights the difficulties faced by families seeking information about Ugandans who travelled to Russia and reportedly enlisted in its armed forces, including the challenge of establishing the fate of those missing in the conflict zone and accessing benefits for deceased relatives. The letter did not specify when the 11 confirmed deaths and 16 disappearances occurred or the circumstances under which the Ugandans were killed or went missing.

Written by newsroom-radiopacis