Two more Kenyans killed in Russia-Ukraine war

Denis Bagaka and Simon Gititu were lured into the war while working in Qatar for private security firms. [ Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence]

Two more Kenyans, Denis Bagaka and Simon Gititu, have been found dead in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, raising the number of Kenyan casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war to three in two weeks.

According to Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, the bodies of Bagaka and Gititu were discovered near the city of Lyman alongside that of another Kenyan, Clinton Nyapara Mogesa.

The agency said the Kenyans were lured into the war while working in Qatar for private security firms.

Bagaka and Mogesa reportedly travelled to a recruitment centre in Yaroslavl, Russia, on September 27, 2025, while Gititu joined them a month later.

A Kyrgyz national, identified as Salizhan Uulu Almamet, is said to have played a key role in the process by acting as their representative, signing contracts with the Russian military on their behalf and taking control of their bank accounts.

From Yaroslavl, the three were sent to the Pogonovo training ground near Voronezh for military training, after which they were deployed to the Donbas region to take part in an assault on Lyman.

“The bodies of the three Kenyan citizens were found near Lyman in the Donetsk region after they had been deployed to combat operations,” the agency said.