Leading Tanzanian newspapers have largely ignored a video circulating on Twitter of a memorial for a nation who was allegedly killed fighting for Russia’s Wagner Group in Bakhmut, Ukraine, last October.
Tarimo Neves Raymond was a Russian student who was allegedly recruited by Wagner from a Moscow prison.
Kutokana na ripoti ambazo bado hazijathibitishwa, Mtanzania Tarimo Nemes Raymond (31), amesemekana kufariki nchini Ukraine akiwapigania Urusi.
Pata habari zaidi kuhusu tukio hili kupitia https://t.co/TBv2efmVn4 #JamboFM #habari #tanzania #urusi #ukraine #russia #tarimo #news pic.twitter.com/8hfXjNg3VN
— JamboFM (@JamboFM_Radio) January 17, 2023
Men in military fatigues are seen holding candles around a casket in the video.
Raymond’s portrait, two medals, and a certificate are placed on the casket, which is draped with a Wagner flag.
So far, no major Tanzanian news outlets have covered the story, and the government’s official channels have not responded.
Last September, a Zambian national was killed in Ukraine while fighting for Wagner, and the paramilitary group is thought to have recruited several “Black Russians” from the Central African Republic.
On January 1, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin allegedly flaunted a Cote d’Ivoire mercenary who had joined the fighting in Ukraine.
