Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Allured by recruitment agencies with jobs, seven Indians allegedly tricked into fighting alongside the Russian Army in the ongoing war in Ukraine have urged the Centre’s help, the media reported on Thursday.
Hundreds of thousands of people, both soldiers and civilians, have perished in the latest war that started after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In particular, the Russian Army has reportedly lost a large number of soldiers, forcing it to seek recruits from overseas.
On February 29, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in New Delhi that nearly 20 Indians were “stuck” with the Russian Army and efforts were underway to facilitate their discharge.
The seven Indians from Punjab and Haryana, trapped in the war zone between Russia and Ukraine, have appealed to the MEA to help them return to India safely.
They have been identified as Gagandeep Singh (24), Lovepreet Singh (24), Narain Singh (22), Gurpreet Singh (21), another Gurpreet Singh (23), Harsh Kumar (20) and Abhishek Kumar (21). While five youths were said to be from Punjab, the other two are from Haryana, the reports said.
In a video that went viral on platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), the seven youths, visibly dressed in Russian soldiers’ uniforms pleaded to New Delhi to bring back them. They alleged that they were forced into fighting a war against their wishes.
Six of them were seen huddled in a corner while 19-year-old Harsh from Haryana’s Karnal recorded their plight.
Harsh’s family said he was taken to Russia under the pretext that “if he went to Russia, it would be easier for him to emigrate to a country of his choice.”
“My son went abroad on December 23, 2023. He went in search of work and was caught in Russia, where his passport was snatched away. He told us they had been caught by Russian soldiers who, by threatening to put them in jail for 10 years, recruited them. He said he was forced to do military training,” his mother claimed. according to the media reports.
One of the youths, who claimed that he was supposedly visiting Russia to celebrate New Year was forcibly sent to fight war with Ukraine.
“We came to visit Russia as tourists for the New Year on December 27 and met an agent who took us to Belarus. Upon reaching Belarus, he (the agent) demanded money. He abandoned us there as we didn’t have any more money on us,” said one of the stranded youths.
“We were caught and locked up in a room for over three days by the Russian Army. They later forced us to sign a contract to work as helpers, drivers, and cooks. The contract was in their language but we were threatened that we would be put in jail if we failed to sign. It was only later we understood we were tricked into the war,” he added.
“We were given some training and taken to war bases in Ukraine. A few of our friends were taken to the frontline. We will soon be taken to frontlines. We cannot even hold the guns properly. We don’t want to fight wars. We want to come back,” they said.
Many more Indians from Punjab, Haryana, Kashmir, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Telangana have been allegedly fraudulently taken to fight wars against Ukraine promising them better jobs for more money.
This comes hours after a man from Hyderabad allegedly working from the Wagner Army died in Russia Ukraine war.
On February 21, a 23-year-old Gujarati was killed by a drone attack on the Russia-Ukraine bordering Donetsk.
In the Gaza War also, a Keralite was reported to have died.