Several Indians who were illegally inducted into the Russian Army are still missing, The Hindu reported on Sunday, citing communication from the Ministry of External Affairs and quoting family members of two of the missing men.
Among them is 27-year-old Zahoor Sheikh from Tangdhar in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Sheikh’s father, Mohammad Amin Sheikh, said that his son last spoke with the family on December 31.
“He said that he was going for training and would not be available for the next three months on phone,” Mohammad Amin Sheikh, a retired Inspector from the Public Health Department in Jammu and Kashmir, was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
He added: “But when we started getting news about the deaths of Indians in Russia in January, we got worried and called on his number. We could not reach him. We are yet to hear from him.”
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, triggering the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Around a hundred Indians were believed to have been forced to fight alongside the Russian army in its war. Dozens of them had sought the government’s help to return home.
At least eight Indians were killed in the conflict as of July, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had informed Parliament.
Last week, Mohammad Amin Sheikh and his two other sons travelled to New Delhi to seek answers from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Russian Embassy after the Indian Embassy in Moscow failed to give them information about Zahoor Sheikh.
“We submitted a petition at the Russian Embassy,” 31-year-old Aijaz Amin, Zahoor Sheikh’s elder brother, told The Hindu. “They said they are looking into the matter. The MEA officials said that at least 15 Indians are still missing and though the Russian government is cooperative, their commanders on the ground are not responsive.”
Aijaz Amin said that Zahoor Sheikh travelled to Russia after watching a YouTube video regarding a security job. However, he was deceived into joining the Russian Army instead.
Similarly, 30-year-old Mandeep from Punjab’s Jalandhar has been missing since March.
“We last spoke on March 3,” Jagdeep Kumar, Mandeep’s brother, was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “He initially went to Armenia and was supposed to go to Italy from there in search of work. Instead, he was tricked by an agent to go to Russia and was forced to join the Russian Army. He was sent to the war zone after a few days of training.”
Kumar said he met officials from the External Affairs Ministry in Delhi, who told him that at least 25 Indians were reported missing in Russia.
On October 21, the Ministry of External Affairs said 85 Indians who had been inducted into the Russian Army and made to fight in the country’s war on Ukraine have been discharged.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that about 20 other Indians are yet to be released from the Russian Army, and that New Delhi is seeking to get them discharged early.
In July, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia, Moscow had promised the early release of all Indians from the country’s military, the foreign ministry had said.
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