Bring him home: Kin defend Gujarat man who laid down arms in Ukraine

The Gujarat police confirmed on Wednesday that Sahil Hussein had no criminal record before leaving for Russia

The family of Sahil Hussein, who left his home in Gujarat’s Morbi two years ago to study computer science in Russia, learned from a Ukrainian military video that the 22-year-old had surrendered on a battlefield thousands of kilometres away.

In Tuesday’s video, Sahil Hussein, seated in a dimly lit room, said that after 16 days of training, he was deployed to his first combat mission on October 1. (Video grab.)

Now his mother and maternal uncle are being questioned in Ahmedabad, while his grandmother and aunt have locked themselves inside their small yellow house, too frightened to emerge.

Hussein, the family believes, was framed. In the video that emerged on Tuesday, the man is seen speaking in Russia and stating he had been sentenced to seven years in a Russian prison on drug-related charges.

“I didn’t want to stay in prison so I signed a contract for the special military operation. But I wanted to get out of there,” Hussein said, using Russia’s term for the invasion of Ukraine.

Back home, the video was met with disbelief. “The entire area is in shock,” said Kasam Sumra, a community leader who has known the family for decades. “The boy who wouldn’t even touch gutkha cannot be involved in drugs. We are very sure he was framed.”

Gujarat police confirmed on Wednesday that Hussein, who lived with his mother and maternal relatives after his parents separated when he was two, had no criminal record before leaving for Russia. Inspector general Ashok Kumar Yadav said authorities were conducting a preliminary inquiry into whether he engaged in illegal activities abroad.

In Tuesday’s video, Hussein, seated in a dimly lit room, said that after 16 days of training, he was deployed to his first combat mission on October 1.

Three days later, following a dispute with his commander, he walked two to three kilometres to a Ukrainian position. “I immediately put down my rifle and said that I didn’t want to fight,” he said.

The brigade described him as the first Indian mercenary to surrender.

Sumra said Hussein’s mother, a tailor who enrolled her son in an English-medium school hoping he would become a government officer, had been summoned to Ahmedabad for questioning.

Before leaving for Russia, Hussein worked in Morbi’s ceramic industry to support his family. Even in Russia, he took a courier job alongside his studies, relatives said.

“He had gone to study and even work. He has been a bright child,” said Abdul Ibrahim Majoti, a relative. “We request the government to bring all such youth including Sahil back.”

Hussein’s case is part of a growing problem. India’s external affairs ministry said last month it had urged Russia to release 27 Indian nationals serving with the Russian military. More than 150 Indians have been recruited, at least 12 killed in combat, and 16 listed as missing.

Last year, several young men from Gujarat were lured to Russia with promises of high-paying security jobs. Among them was 24-year-old Hemil Mangukiya from Surat, killed in a drone strike in February. His family wrote repeatedly to the Indian Embassy seeking his return.

Another recruit, Tahir Mohammed, 25, from Ahmedabad, said he and others were sent to a training camp near Moscow after being promised non-combat roles. Their phones were seized before they received weapons training. Tahir managed to return, but said Hemil had warned him that untrained recruits were dying daily on the front lines.

Back in Morbi, neighbours say the family has lived on the quiet street for years. Since the news broke, there has been no movement from the yellow house.

“Like a true Gujarati, he used his mind and saved himself,” Sumra said. “There must be hundreds of youths like Sahil trapped and sent to the front. We appeal to the government to bring him home.”