Families of Indians Duped into Russian Army Seek MEA and Rahul Gandhi's Help

Srinagar: The families of 35 Indian nationals who have allegedly been duped to serve in the Russian army on the Ukraine warfront have met the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials in New Delhi to draw their attention to the “exceptionally difficult plight” of their kin.

They also met the leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi to request him to raise the issue in and outside the Indian Parliament.

The families of these Indians have claimed that they were lured by a YouTube video posted by a Dubai-based recruiting agency that charged them huge amounts on the pretext of getting them jobs as ‘helpers’ in the Russian army and promised them a high salary and permanent residency in Russia after six months but on reaching Moscow they were taken to the warfront where they were forced to fight as mercenaries.

Two such Indians and two Nepali nationals have been killed on the warfront, so far, adding to the anxiety of the families of others back home. Hemil Ashwinbhai Mangukiya, a 23-year-old youth of Surat in Gujarat, was killed in a Ukrainian airstrike in the Donetsk region on February 21. In March, the Indian Embassy in Moscow confirmed the death of another Indian - 31-year-old Mohammed Asfan, a resident of Hyderabad in Telangana state who too was allegedly forced into joining the Russian army and fighting against Ukraine.

“We have been informed that two Nepalis were killed in the same area where Hemil had lost his life a few months ago. This has made us anxious as my brother is also there. It has led to fear in the entire household. In fact, my parents are feeling scared,” said Sajad Ahmad whose brother Aazad Yousuf Kumar, 32, is among the Indian nationals who have allegedly been duped to fight against Ukraine alongside the Russian army.

Mr. Ahmad, a resident of Poshawan village in Kashmir valley’s southern Pulwama district, was among those who met the MEA officials in the Union capital to plead that the government “should do all that is required to bring our dear ones back unharmed.” He told this newspaper, “We told them how life has been made miserable for our kin. They have come under the clutches of death. They (MEA officials) did not know about many sorrows that have come to us; how our dear ones have been caught up in distress, how their lives are in peril.”

The families of the “victims of deceit” at their meeting with Mr. Gandhi requested him to “step in and help us out.’ Mr. Ahmad said, “We told him that he can raise the issue in and outside the Parliament and also use his reach of influence to bring them back.”

Among Indians allegedly duped by the recruiting agency, two including Aazad are residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Their families say that they had signed employment agreements to work as “kitchen helpers” in Russia but after their arrival in Moscow they were forced to undergo weeks of military training and then taken to the Ukraine warfront. They allege that the agents, one of them being Faisal Khan who has an office in Dubai and runs a vlog called Baba Vlogs and two others from Mumbai, had taken Rs 300,000 each from these youths. The single-entry visa issued by the Russian Federation to Aazad shows the purpose of travel as "tourism".

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had in March this year busted a pan-India human trafficking network and found that handlers from Rajasthan, Kerala and some other parts of the country were sending farmers and youth looking for overseas jobs to Russia via the Dubai route. But many of them were actually being duped into joining the Wagner Group, a Russian state-funded military company. The CBI after registering a case under sections of cheating, criminal conspiracy and human trafficking took up investigations.

The Central government has reaffirmed that it is committed to the early release of these Indian nationals serving as support staff with the Russian army and their early return home. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a statement on the issue said, “We have strongly taken up the matter for the early discharge of such Indian nationals. Strong action has been initiated against agents and unscrupulous elements who recruited them on false pretexts and promises.”

The MEA has repeatedly appealed to the Indian nationals to not be swayed by offers made by agents for support jobs with the Russian army. “This is fraught with danger and risk to life”, it has cautioned.