Nemes Tarimo, a resident of Tanzania who served with the Russian Wagner Private Military Company during the conflict in Ukraine, passed away last October while carrying out a combat assignment, according to a close relative.
His family claims that Mr. Tarimo was enrolled in the Russian Technological University (Mirea) in Moscow when he was sentenced to prison for drug-related offenses.
Later, he was pardoned on the condition that he join Wagner in the ongoing battle between Russia and Ukraine.
Nemes told me and a few other family members that he was considering joining Wagner. We urged him against it, but Nemes insisted that he would join in order to be free.
They said, “We last spoke with him on October 17 of last year, [when he was] already a member of Wagner.
They added, “We later learned of his passing through his acquaintances, and then we received official word from the Tanzanian envoy in Moscow.
As the family awaited the arrival of Mr. Tarimo’s body in Dar es Salaam, the BBC met them.
They intend to bury him in their neighborhood cemetery in a community in the nation’s Southern Highlands.
Close relatives of Mr. Tarimo regarded him as a very kind and charming young man.
Nemes perished after coming under artillery fire from Ukrainian forces, according to media accounts.
We learned about the death of Zambian Lemekhani Nyirenda in comparable circumstances around the end of the previous year.
