Debt, a Language Barrier and No Answers for Three Men Who Went to Russia for Their Relatives in the Russian Army

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09-06-2025

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Debt, a Language Barrier and No Answers for Three Men Who Went to Russia for Their Relatives in the Russian Army
Kusum Arora
11 minutes ago
As per their families, a total of 21 Indians – seven from Kerala and 14 from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other states – are missing in Russia and are all fighting the Russia-Ukraine war. Reports of Indian men who were tricked into joining the Russian Army surfaced in early 2024.
Jagdeep Kumar from Jalandhar and Ajay Yadav from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, outside the Indian Embassy in Russia. Photo: By arrangement.
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Jalandhar: In March this year, Jagdeep Kumar from Jalandhar in Punjab, and Ajay Yadav and Azamuddin Khan from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh reached Russia on a 30-day tourist visa. The three had gone there to look for – and in one case, press for compensation for – relatives who they said had been tricked into enlisting for the Russian Army in its war on Ukraine. Their visit, facilitated by Punjab Rajya Sabha MP Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh, came after a year-and-a-half's wait for the Union government to offer clarity on the situation. But the three returned with very few answers.
Kumar, Yadav and Khan were not allowed to move beyond Moscow and St. Petersburg. At Moscow they failed to get any response from authorities.
Russian Military Headquarters at St Petersburg in Russia. Photo: By arrangement.
At St. Petersburg they managed to access official letters proving that their brothers had joined the Russian Army. The three also me two Russian Army officers in uniform, a Lieutenant Colonel heading the selection point for military service under contract (otherwise known as 'First Class') in the Leningrad region and a Captain rank officer, who was the deputy head of the under-contract military service selection point, also in the Leningrad region.
The Wire has accessed letters of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation which mentioned the military unit numbers of the three men and the contracts signed by the Indian citizens who joined the Russian Army. In one of the letters, a Colonel-rank officer has signed off on the fact that Indian citizens joined the Russian Army at St. Petersburg.
The families were asked by MEA officials to provide their DNA samples to verify the identities of the deceased Indian soldiers. They submitted the samples at AIIMS Delhi in February 2025.
'We also met Russian military officials and legal advisors at the Ministry of Defence office at Moscow where they inquired about the status of our DNA reports. We had submitted our DNA reports in February and they had already been sent to Russia', Jagdeep Kumar told The Wire.
As per their families, a total of 21 Indians – seven from Kerala and 14 from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other states – are missing in Russia. The Russia-Ukraine war started three years ago and reports of Indian men who were tricked into joining the Russian Army surfaced in early 2024.
While the Indian government claims that 128 Indians had joined the Russian Army out of whom 96 individuals had returned home, the families of those who are yet to return have said that the government has not shared the latest numbers in this case.
'It has been over 1.5 years since we have been waiting to hear about our loved ones but nobody took our pleas sincerely – whether it is the Indian Embassy in Russia, Russian Military, or the Union government,' Kumar said.
Several men were lured by a nexus of fake travel agents who had promised them jobs as helpers in the Russian Army along with Russian citizenship, and Rs 1.95 lakh as monthly salary. They not only siphoned off the salary of the victims but were still at large, the families have said..
In the last week of May this year, the families of those missing in Russia had staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to press the Union government to expedite their case.
'Now, we are planning to meet the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi or AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi to question the Modi government for such a lapse. Had the government helped us, we would have never gone to Russia bearing such a huge expense. It is an international issue but nobody is bothered to help us,' Kumar said.
Families of missing Indian citizens during their protest outside Jantar Mantar in Delhi on May 28, 2025.
'Left in the lurch'
Kumar is from the Goraya town of Jalandhar district. Along with Yadav and Khan, Kumar reached Russia on March 3 and came back on March 25.
His brother, Mandeep, who joined the Russian Army after getting basic training at St Petersburg, is missing. Mandeep has a partial physical disability, Kumar said. He had initially gone to Armenia in August 2023 along with two of his friends. Kumar said they were trapped in Russia on their way to Italy.
Kumar had to incur Rs 2.50 lakh in expenses for the trip. He has had to take a loan. Kumar said that he has returned only with a promise by the Russian and the Indian authorities that they would clear the status of the missing Indians in Russia within two months.
He said that although he reached out to two officials in the MEA, neither facilitated their stay in Russia. Moscow Indian Embassy officials, he said, were initially high-handed but eventually met them four times. 'They kept telling us that they cannot help us in this case,' he added.
Jagdeep Kumar said that the Russian Army officials initially refused to accept that they had recruited any Indian citizen in the Russian Army. 'However, when we showed them the Russian Army recruitment documents, passport, and photos of my brother, they listened to us briefly. But then they were not willing to accept that Indians had joined the Russian Army at St. Petersburg. We even told them that many Indians lost their lives in the Russia-Ukraine war while others were still missing but they remained adamant on their stand and left us helpless,' he added.
Kumar said Rajya Sabha MP Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal bought air tickets for him and Azammudin Khan. Azamuddin's brother Azaruddin Khan is missing in Russia.
Congress MLA Pargat Singh, Kumar said, provided him Rs 50,000 as financial help. 'To cut our expenses, we stayed in a hostel in Russia and used to walk for hours in the heavy snow,' Kumar said.
Also read: Dead, Trapped and Waiting to Escape: Meet the Indians Forced to Fight Russia's War Against Ukraine
MEA speaks
Highly placed sources in the MEA told The Wire that they were committed to help the family members of those Indian nationals who are reported missing in the Russian Army. 'The senior officers of MEA have twice met the family members of such Indian nationals', they said.
They also maintained that the MEA was in touch with the Russian authorities in Moscow through our Embassy in Moscow as well as with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi.
'⁠As a result of MEA's efforts most of the Indian nationals in the Russian Army have managed to end their services with the Russian Army. ⁠ The case of 18 missing Indian nationals has also been taken up with the Russian side,' they said.
On the claims of Kumar, Yadav and Khan that they were not assisted by the Indian Mission in Moscow, sources in the MEA stated that the family members of some missing Indians travelled to Moscow at a very short notice. 'Despite this our Embassy made all efforts to provide help and suitable advice and guidance. The family members also submitted relevant compensation papers to the Embassy, which have been forwarded to the Russian side,' he said.
The MEA officials also claimed that the Russian government was responding officially to their queries in this matter. 'It is difficult to comment on individual family members' interaction with the Russian side. We continue to raise with the Russian side the need to intensify search for those Indians that remain missing and provide an early update on their status', sources added.
'We continue to assist Indian families in ensuring clarity of those nationals that remain missing', sources in the MEA stated.
Also read: Families of Men Trapped in Russian Army Protest At India Gate, Outside Russian Embassy
'Punjab leaders gave financial assistance, none from Uttar Pradesh'
Ajay Yadav's father Kanhaiya, who was tricked into joining the Russian Army was killed in a drone attack in the Russia-Ukraine war on June 17, 2024. His body reached home in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, on December 23, 2024.
Yadav who visited the Russian Military Headquarter at Moscow four times in March said that he had gone to Russia to seek compensation, as was promised by the Russian military in his father's army contract.
'When my father's body reached home, an MEA official had told us that we were eligible for compensation. It included my father's salary and health insurance benefits. I took my father's documents, passport, and photos to Russia but nobody responded. It was as if he never existed,' Yadav said.
Officials at the MEA did not even inform Yadav's family about what needs to be done to secure compensation. 'Had they told us that my mother's visit to the Russian military office was a must, I would have taken her along. Now, I will have to go to Russia again,' Yadav said. His maternal uncle Vinod Yadav is also missing in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Yadav also said that they were planning to visit the Military Training Camp at Rostov in Russia but were not granted permission.
Yadav said that while the Punjab MP and MLA helped Jagdeep Kumar and Azamuddin Khan, none from Uttar Pradesh provided any financial help to him. 'I have a debt of Rs 2.50 lakh now,' he said.
In Russia, Yadav said, they had to pay Rs 5,000 per day to a translator who assisted them in their meetings with the Russian officials. 'Before leaving for Russia, we had informed MEA officials about the need for a translator but they did not arrange one for us,' he said.
He also said that before boarding the flight to Russia he even met Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan for financial help in Delhi but was given nothing.
With inputs by Devirupa Mitra.
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