Ukraine Army Reports Surrender of Indian National Who Served With Russian Forces
New Delhi: An Indian national who had joined the Russian army has surrendered to Ukrainian troops after spending three days on the frontline, Ukraine's military announced on Tuesday (October 7).
Official sources in New Delhi said the Indian embassy in Kyiv was verifying the information. “It has not yet received any formal communication from the Ukrainian side in this regard,” the sources said.
On their official telegram channel, Ukraine's 63rd Mechanised brigade posted a video with the title “A 22-year-old … Indian has been taken prisoner!”.
While several Indian nationals have been recruited into the Russian army on contract and even been killed on the frontline, this is the first known instance of an Indian citizen being taken into Ukrainian custody.
The video identified him as Majoti Sahil Mohamed Hussein, a 22-year-old from Morbi in Gujarat. He had travelled to Russia to study at a university but was later convicted on drug-related charges.
“I didn't want to stay in prison, so I signed a contract for the ‘special military operation’. But I wanted to get out of there,” he said in the Russian language video, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Hussein said that he received only 16 days of training before being sent to the frontline on October 1. He claimed he decided to surrender after a dispute with his commander, adding that he came across a Ukrainian trench position about two to three kilometres from the 63rd Mechanised brigade. “I immediately put down my rifle and said that I didn't want to fight. I needed help,” he added.
He also alleged that he was never paid the salary promised by the Russian side and said he would rather stay in Ukraine than return to Russia. “There is no truth there, nothing. I'd rather go to prison here,” he said.
In February, the Indian government told parliament that it was aware of 127 Indians who had joined the Russian military after the start of the Ukraine war. So far, 12 have died, 18 are missing and the rest have returned after being released.
Last month, The Wire reported that more Indians had recently joined the Russian army after allegedly being deceived with false promises of non-combat jobs.
Indian officials have said New Delhi has repeatedly asked Moscow to stop recruiting Indian citizens.
The report on the surrender of the Indian national emerged on the same day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Russian President Vladimir Putin to wish him on his 73rd birthday. The Russian leader will travel to India in December for the annual bilateral summit.
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