The Indians were sent to Russia, where they received basic weapons-handling training.
A dozen Indians, including three men from Telangana, were cheated by job agents who offered them work as security agents in Russia but are now being forced to take part in the war against Ukraine, claimed MP Asaduddin Owaisi. He has written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, seeking his intervention to help bring three Indians back from Russia who were allegedly duped by a job agent and sent to the war.
Indians Stuck In Russia
The Indians were sent to Russia, where they received basic weapons-handling training and were forced onto the battlefield. They were tricked into volunteering for the army and sent to fight in Mariupol, Kharkiv, and Donetsk.
Mr Owaisi, in a press conference, said, "Unemployed men from Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh were promised jobs by agents in Russia, where they were told that they would work as building security agents but were duped and sent to the battlefield. I met the families of these men in December last year who sought help from me. I've written to the External Affairs Minister and India's Ambassador to Russia to bring them back."
Faisal Khan, who runs a YouTube channel named 'Baba Vlogs', allegedly cheated the Indians. The YouTuber, with over 300,000 subscribers, posts videos on how to get job offers in different countries and how he assists people in receiving work permits.
Mr Owaisi said, "Faisal Khan, who is in Dubai, along with Sufiyaan and Poja from Mumbai, cheated the men." Faisal Khan, Sufiyan and Poja know each other. Mr Khan has mentioned the contact details of the duo in the description of his YouTube videos.
The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to respond.
"These men made videos where they shared their ordeal. They were forced onto the frontline and faced gunfire on the battlefield. One of their companions has died in the war," Mr Owaisi said. In a letter to Mr Jaishankar, the AIMIM MP said "Mohammed Asfan, Arbab Hussain and Zahoor Ahmed are seeking help to return to Hyderabad. It is learnt that the above people went to Russia for job purposes but they were misguided by the Indian Agents and were forced into the Russian Army. They are not being given training either. They have not contacted their families for 25 days and their families are very much worried about them and intend to return them to India, as they are the only bread earners of their families."
In a video from December last year, Faisal Khan said he had received the work permit of people from European countries. Later in the video, the YouTuber said, "Work is going on with the Russian army and seven people have received work permits for Russia." Mr Khan showed photocopies of seven passports in the video.
Two years ago, on February 24, Russia crossed the international border and invaded Ukraine, declaring war following weeks of massive build-up along the border. The invasion of Ukraine marked the biggest conflict Europe has witnessed since World War II. A US intelligence report has assessed that at least 3,00,000 people have died fighting for Russia against Ukraine since the war began, a number contested by both sides.
Russia-Ukraine War
After two years of war in Ukraine, there is no prospect of negotiations to find a breakthrough as Russian President Vladimir Putin, emboldened by the erosion of Western support for Kyiv, girds for a long conflict.
2024 will be another year of war because Ukraine is determined to keep on fighting to recapture territory, while Putin will only be satisfied with Kyiv's full surrender, analysts and diplomats say.
Putin may have signalled in this month's interview with right-wing US talk show host Tucker Carlson that Russia was interested in negotiations but this would be so much on Moscow's terms that Kyiv would not countenance such talks.