India urges Russia to release and repatriate 27 nationals recruited by military amid safety concerns
Reports suggest that many Indians, including those from Kashmir and Punjab, have been coerced into military service, despite previous assurances from Russia.
India said on Friday it has strongly urged Russian authorities to release and repatriate 27 more Indian nationals who were recruited into the Russian Army even as it reiterated its warning that taking up such job offers poses a risk to life.
ecent reports suggested more than a dozen Indian men, mostly from Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana, had been forced to join Russian Army units deployed on the frontlines in the war with Ukraine. (AP file photo)
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External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indian authorities had recently found out that more Indian nationals had joined the Russian military, with the information coming from the families of men who had been recruited.
The problem of Indian citizens being lured with lucrative offers of jobs in the Russian military has continued despite Moscow’s assertion that it stopped recruiting Indians in its armed forces in April 2024. Recent reports suggested more than a dozen Indian men, mostly from Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana, had been forced to join Russian Army units deployed on the frontlines in the war with Ukraine. Most of these men had travelled to Russia on student and business visas.
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Jaiswal told a media briefing that at least 27 Indian nationals are currently serving in the Russian Army.
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Jaiswal told a media briefing that at least 27 Indian nationals are currently serving in the Russian Army.
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He said, “We have strongly raised this matter with Russian authorities in Moscow and with the Russian embassy in New Delhi and asked for them to be freed as soon as possible.”
Indian authorities are also in close touch with the families of these men.
“We once again strongly urge all Indian nationals to stay away from offers being made to serve in the Russian Army as they are fraught with danger and risk to life,” he said, noting that Indian authorities had issued several advisories in this regard.
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.
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Home/India News/India urges Russia to release and repatriate 27 nationals recruited by military amid safety concerns
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