New Delhi: The number of Indians serving in the Russian army has risen sharply to 44, up from 27 in September, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday (November 7), as New Delhi urged Moscow to release them and end the recruitment of Indian nationals.

At the weekly media briefing, ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that several Indians had been recruited by Russian military units in recent months.

“As per our understanding, there are 44 Indian nationals presently serving in the Russian army,” he said, adding: “We have once again taken up the matter with the Russian authorities to have them released at the earliest, as also to put an end to this practice.”

He said the government remains in touch with both the Russian side and the families of those involved. “We are in touch with the Russian side. We are also in touch with the families of these people and giving them an update on the matter.”

Reiterating the government's advisory against joining the Russian military, Jaiswal said such recruitment was “fraught with danger to life”.

“We have said this so many times. In spite of our repeated reminders, people continue to enlist,” he said, adding that Indian law enforcement agencies have taken action against those involved in facilitating such enlistment “so that people are not tricked into joining such risky endeavours”.

The latest figure marks a sharp rise from late September, when Jaiswal had told reporters that “roughly 27 Indians” were serving in the Russian forces and that efforts were under way to secure their release.

His remarks then had followed reports of more Indians being recruited as support staff with Russian army units and later sent to the frontlines in Ukraine.

The issue has been raised repeatedly with Moscow, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Russia last year. Then-foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra had stated that the prime minister “strongly raised” the matter with Russian authorities, who “promised [the] early discharge of all Indian nationals from the service of the Russian army”.

Kwatra added that there was “a sense of promise from the Russian side” on the early release of the remaining Indians, whose number he put at around 40. “Now the two systems will work on it and see how exactly, and how expeditiously, we can get them back into the country,” he said.

However, there has been no official announcement from Moscow confirming a commitment to releasing the serving Indians. Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov later said that Russia was “very open to dialogue on this particular issue,” but did not indicate any timeline for their discharge.

A month later, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar told the Lok Sabha that progress on the repatriation of Indian nationals had been slow because “Russian authorities maintain that these Indian nationals entered into contracts for service with the Russian army”. He added that there was evidence suggesting that some Indians “were misled”, having been told they were being hired for civilian jobs before being sent to the frontlines.

The Russian embassy responded that “the Russian government has at no point of time been engaged in any public or obscure campaigns, more so in fraudulent schemes to recruit the Indian nationals for military service in Russia”.

According to government records, as of February this year, 127 Indian nationals had been recruited by the Russian armed forces. Of them, 97 had been discharged, 12 were known to have died in the conflict and the rest remained unaccounted for.

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