At the end of 2025, a native of the African country of Uganda surrendered to Ukrainian defenders. He said that the Russians had lured him with the promise of work and forced him, along with other compatriots, to sign contracts at gunpoint. Recorded conversation with a prisoner was published by 63rd separate mechanized brigade, part of the Third Army Corps.

"Since the beginning of the fall, pilots and infantry of the 63rd Brigade have been able to neutralize black mercenaries of the Russian Federation who were moving towards our positions with weapons. They did not have any documents with them, so it was impossible to identify the "aliens," the military said.

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However, the defenders added, just before the New Year, "an African man, barely alive, frozen, ran to one of the checkpoints near Lyman, Donetsk region," unarmed and screaming for help.

"It turned out that Richard was from Uganda. Fleeing poverty, he 'bought' Russian promises, took out a huge loan from a bank for airline tickets to Russia, but instead of working in a supermarket, he was faced with a choice: sign a contract or die from a gunshot to the head," the statement added.

In the video, the prisoner said that he and three other Ugandans were taken to Balashikha: "We arrived, and they said, 'I'm sorry, guys, but now you are in the Russian army. We said no, no, we didn't come for that, but they said the gate was blocked and there was no way out."

Richard noted that in order to force them to sign the documents, the Russians brought a soldier with an assault rifle to the Ugandans, who put the weapon to head.

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