E-Paper
Ukraine army says Indian fighting with Russian force surrendered, releases video
The Ukrainian military released a video featuring the Indian national and accused Russia of continuing to actively recruit foreigners into their army
New Delhi: The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that an Indian man fighting alongside Russian forces had surrendered to Ukrainian troops on the frontline.
The 63rd Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Army published a video featuring the Indian national, who identified himself as Majoti Sahil Mohamed Hussein from Morbi in Gujarat, on its Telegram channel.
There was no official word on the development from Indian officials. People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that the Indian embassy in Kyiv was ascertaining the veracity of the report. The Indian side hadn’t received any formal communication from Ukrainian authorities on this matter, they said.
Hussein said in the video that he was 22 years old and had gone to Russia to study. Speaking in Russian, he said that after he was sentenced to seven years in a Russian prison on drug-related charges, he was given the chance to sign a contract with the Russian military to avoid the punishment.
“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.
After 16 days of training, Hussein was sent on his first combat mission on October 1, and it lasted three days. After a quarrel with his commander, he surrendered to Ukrainian troops of the 63rd Mechanised Brigade.
“I came across a Ukrainian trench position about two to three kilometres away,” he said. “I immediately put down my rifle and said that I didn’t want to fight. I needed help. I don’t want to go back to Russia.”
The 63rd Mechanised Brigade’s post on Telegram said Hussein voluntarily told his story. “He studied in Russia, but got caught with drugs. And in order not to go to prison, he went to war,” the post said.
The post accused Russia of continuing to “actively recruit foreigners into their army”.
The external affairs ministry said last month that India had strongly urged Russia to release and repatriate 27 Indian nationals currently serving with the Russian Army. 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.
According to official figures, the number of Indians recruited by the Russian military is now more than 150. At least 12 Indians were killed while fighting on the frontlines of the conflict in Ukraine, while 96 were discharged by Russian authorities, and another 16 have been listed as missing.
