War in Ukraine: Congolese in the ranks of the pro-Russian militia in Luhansk

Published on: 09/06/2022 – 19:26 From the start of the Russian invasion, many foreign volunteers left to fight in Ukraine alongside the kyiv army, responding to a call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But foreign fighters are also fighting alongside the Russian army, even if little information is filtering about them. The Observateurs editorial staff came into contact with two Congolese enlisted in the pro-Russian militia in Luhansk. One of them agreed to testify. On his Instagram account, Jean-Claude Sangwa can be seen posing in military fatigues alongside his friends in this post from October 21, 2021. In another photo from August 2021, he indicates that he is in Luhansk. This photo was posted on Jean-Claude Sangwa’s Instagram account on October 21, 2021. “I studied Russian, then economics, before entering a military school” Originally from DR Congo, Jean-Claude Sangwa left to study in Russia “two and a half years ago”. After the outbreak of war, he joined the militia of the self-proclaimed Luhansk (pro-Russian) People’s Republic, as evidenced by his military passport. However, he considers himself to be an integral part of the Russian army. We were able to reach him on May 10 via WhatsApp. I chose Russia because it was my dream country. And my dad’s too. I joined the army with my father’s blessing, he was the one who sent me to Russia before he died. In the DR Congo, I did secondary school in Latin and philosophy. When I went to Russia, I first lived in Rostov [dans le sud-ouest de la Russie, à 90 kilomètres de la frontière ukrainienne, NDLR], where I studied Russian language for a year. Then I joined a Congolese brother in Luhansk [région séparatiste prorusse dans l’est de l’Ukraine, NDLR]. I studied the Russian language there, then economics, then I joined a military school [avant le début de la guerre, NDLR].After the war started, I joined the fighting. It was not obligatory, it was my will. If, in the place where you live, there is no peace, what are you going to do? Go to sleep and wait for it to be over? That’s not a man. We are three Congolese [dans la république autoproclamée de Louhansk, NDLR]. There are fighters from Arab countries, from Belarus, from California. There was also a Frenchwoman, she works at the hospital.Jean-Claude Sangwa was also interviewed by the Russian war blogger War Gonzo on May 31 in Luhansk: This video was published on May 31 on the Telegram channel “War Gonzo”. A travel agency sends Congolese students to LouhanskJean-Gustave Mukadi Musasa heads the representation of the self-proclaimed Republic of Louhansk (LNR) in DR Congo, which opened in Kolwezi on February 19, 2019. by the vast majority of the international community, including the DR Congo. Contacted by the editorial staff of the Observers, he said he knew the two Congolese nationals well. It was even he who helped them go to Russia. It was I who made them travel. They went two and a half years ago to Russia to study, but they chose to enter a military school, so they ended up there [à Louhansk, NDRL].Jean-Gustave Mukadi Musasa also runs the travel agency Hope Travel SARL. On her Facebook page, we can read that she facilitates the process for Congolese to obtain tourist or student visas for Russia, Belarus and Poland. She regularly publishes photos of the young people she accompanies, including one where you can recognize Jean-Claude Sangwa in the middle: This photo was published on the Facebook page of the travel agency Hope Travel SARL on March 13, 2020. © Facebook Two Congolese fighters falsely announced deadAt the end of March, Jean-Claude Sangwa and a Congolese companion had been the subject of a pro-Ukrainian hoax pretending that they had died in combat. The image, originally posted on Telegram on March 27, 2022, shows two military passports, stamped by the NRL military commissariat. They include the identity photos of Jean-Claude Sangwa and the other man of Congolese origin. On the caption of the publication, one can read, in Russian: “Deceased, mercenaries”. A March 27, 2022 post on Telegram claims that the two people seen in the photo are believed to be dead. © Telegram Quickly, the images of the two military passports were taken up on Twitter, where some speculated that these two fighters could be Central African mercenaries trained by the Russian private military company Wagner. This Russian company has been training soldiers in the Central African Republic since 2018 and has been accused for several months of training Malian soldiers. 2 (PMC Wagner?) mercenaries from the Central African Republic fighting for #Russia killed in #Donbas
south eastern #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/2ZCppzHg1b— C4H10FO2P (@markito0171) March 27, 2022 This March 27 Twitter post reads: “Two mercenaries (Wagner?) from Central African Republic fighting for Russia killed in the Donbass, in the south-east of Ukraine”. According to Jean-Claude Sangwa, the false information disseminated about him is part of the media war between Ukraine and Russia. My documents were ambushed with the Ukrainians. They took all our documents and then when they saw my soldier’s card they published it on the internet to say that I was dead. They had a lot of documents, it wasn’t just me. More than 100 days after the start of the war in Ukraine, counting military casualties remains difficult. Moscow has not recently provided specific figures on casualties within its army. There is no reliable data on the number of pro-Russian foreign fighters currently fighting in Ukraine, or whether there are any injuries or deaths among them.