Moscow promises to release Indian nationals misled into joining military, Indian officials say
At least 4 Indian citizens have been killed this year while fighting for Russia in Ukraine
Russia has agreed to release Indian nationals who had been misled into enlisting in its army and fighting in Ukraine after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed the issue with Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow this week, according to Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra.
India, which is a major buyer of Russia's energy and weaponry, says Russia's military has forced a few dozen of its citizens who travelled to Moscow on the promise of higher-paying jobs to fight against their will.
At least four of them have been killed this year.
"The prime minister strongly raised the issue of early discharge of Indian nationals who have been misled into the service of the Russian army," said Kwatra told reporters in Moscow as Modi wrapped up a two-day visit.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Western officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed or injured.
But as the battlefield losses mount, intelligence agencies in the United States and United Kingdom estimate that Moscow has been able to recruit around 30,000 soldiers, in part by enticing men to sign military contracts.
In recent months, the governments of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka have raised the alarm about their citizens being sent to fight in Ukraine, often after being promised other jobs which would lead the way to permanent residency, a Russian passport and other future opportunities for their families.
From Hyderabad to Moscow
Mohammed Asfan, a 30-year-old father, was working as a clothing store manager in Hyderabad, India, but was on the lookout for an opportunity that would help him emigrate, along with his baby, toddler and wife.
After seeing an ad on YouTube by a recruiter who appeared be Indian but had connections in Dubai and Russia, Asfan paid the equivalent of approximately $5,700 to secure what he thought would be a job based in Moscow, providing security to the Russian military.
His brother, Mohammed Imran, told CBC News that Asfan was assured he would not be sent into Ukraine, but he was forced to sign documents in Russian shortly after he arrived in November 2023.
He said three days later, his brother and other Indian nationals were taken to a military training centre 500 kilometres away.
"How can people who have never seen a gun … get 15 days training," Imran said from his home in Hyderabad, a city in India's south central region.
The last time Imran heard from his brother was on Dec. 31 of last year.
"We sent letters, and everywhere we tried our best to find him. But unfortunately, we got his dead body."
At the end of January, Imran got a call from another foreign soldier telling him that Asfan had been injured and they couldn't move him.
Imran started a frantic plea calling various levels of India's government and the country's embassy in Moscow.
They confirmed his death on March 6. Ten days later, his body arrived back in India where his family gave him a Muslim burial.
"We know this tragedy happened and we lost our brother because he was misguided by agents, " Imran said.
Asfan is among at least four Indian citizens killed while serving with Russia's military in Ukraine, including two whose deaths were confirmed by India's foreign ministry in May.
The recruiter Afsan connected with is Faisal Khan, who went by the online name "Baba Vlogs". When CBC News contacted him on Monday, it appeared his cell phone was shut off.
However, when BBC News reached him in the spring, he said that he told the men they would be getting jobs as a "helper" in the Russian military. He says he was told the men would get training but would not be sent to fight.
Human trafficking investigations
Earlier this year, videos circulated on social media of Indian men dressed in military fatigues claiming that they had been tricked into fighting in Russia.
In May, India's police arrested four people linked to what officials described as a human trafficking network that was operating across several Indian states.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation said that 35 men had been lured into Russia with the promise of jobs or spots in universities, but had been forced to sign a military contract after arriving.
Recruiters have also targeted men from other South Asian countries.
Earlier this year, Nepali officials said that at least 10 of its citizens were killed while serving in the Russian army, and that as many as 100 others were considered missing.
Nepal detained a group of men that it accused of illegally recruiting men for Russia's army, and it stopped issuing the permits that allow its citizens to work in Russia until further notice.
And in May, Sri Lanka sent a delegation to Russia to look into the cases of hundreds of its citizens who were reportedly fighting in Ukraine.
India has been pushing for its citizens to be returned for months. Modi's visit — his first to the country since 2019 — put further pressure on Moscow.
"It is obviously a thorn in the bilateral relationship to have this point of contention over these Indian nationals who have died on the battlefield," said Chietigj Bajpaee, a senior research fellow for South Asia in the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House, a London-based think-tank.
India's neutral position
Bajpaee says that India has neither condemned nor condoned Russia's invasion of war, and that the Indian government has maintained a "largely neutral position."
Modi met with Ukraine's President Volodyrmyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit last month in Italy. While India participated in a peace summit held in Switzerland, the country didn't endorse the joint communique issued afterward.
Bajpaee describes India's position as nuanced or pragmatic.
"India doesn't yet see Russia as a lost cause in the same way that the West does, " he said, speaking to CBC News from London.
After Western countries sanctioned Russia and imposed a price cap on its oil exports, India became an even larger customer, buying more tanker shipments of Russian oil.
India remains the larger importer of Russian weaponry, even though in recent years it has stepped up its own domestic production and signed contracts with Western nations.
Back in Hyderabad, Imran said he doesn't blame Russia for his brother's death, but rather a recruiter who has not yet been arrested by authorities.
He says the family has been promised compensation by Russia, which would include annual payments to Asfan's two children, but Imran says he would need to travel to Moscow to fill out the paperwork.
At the moment, he is trying to raise awareness about his brother's case and has a request for Modi.
"It's time to show our power, and show our dignity, " he said
"We have to save our children … our national citizens who are stuck in Russia."
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With files from CBC's Corinne Seminoff and Reuters