Special | ‘Tricked Into Joining Russian Army’: Seven Indians Appeal to MEA to Save Their Lives

Jalandhar: At a time when several Indians who had joined the Russian Army remain missing in the Russia-Ukraine war, another case has surfaced of young men being forcibly sent to the frontline.

A group of seven men who had travelled to Moscow on study and business visas said they were deceived by a third-party agent and taken to a Russian Army camp on August 18, 2025, where they were forced to construct bunkers.

They were allegedly lured with promises that they would be paid Rs 20 lakh per month as construction workers outside Moscow, amounting to Rs 80 lakh for a three-month contract. However, in reality, the contract bound them to the Russian Army, they said.

Trapped in the camp, the men shared videos with The Wire via WhatsApp, pleading with the Indian embassy in Moscow and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar to secure their safe release.

The seven, now at the camp in occupied Ukraine’s Selydove in the Donetsk region, have been identified as Gursewak Singh, Sachin Khajuria, Sumeet Sharma, Buta Singh, Geetik Kumar, Ankit and Vijay Singh, who hail from Punjab, Jammu and Haryana.

Gursewak, 26, from Mehta village in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, was taken to the frontline around 6 am on Wednesday (September 10) Russian time. His wife Suman, also in Moscow on a work visa, said she had contacted both the embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) but that no action had followed.

Gursewak spent Rs 3.5 lakh for a study visa. Others also spent almost the same amount.

He told The Wire on Tuesday night that his visa was due to expire before his deployment on September 19, yet Russian Army officials ignored his appeals.

“Earlier, I worked in Dubai for two years, then moved to Russia on a study visa in September 2024. I joined a one-year Russian language course at the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU). As we could work while studying, I took construction jobs to earn good money,” he said.

While working at a site in Moscow, Gursewak and others met a woman who promised Rs 20 lakh a month for construction work and arranged for their travel from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport to a place called Chilimnyi.

“She told us it was a Russian government site. We fell for the promise of high salaries. We all come from humble backgrounds and felt that moving out of Moscow for better money was a good idea,” he said.

But upon arrival, they were taken straight to a Russian Army camp and given 15 days of basic training. Then they were dispatched to the frontline.

“Officials threatened us with pistols and forced us to sign contracts in Russian. If we refused, they said we would be killed,” he claimed.

According to Gursewak, their group initially had 15 members. Five have already died at the front, three were sent there in recent days and he was dispatched there on September 10.

“While my husband has been sent to war, I am alone in Moscow. My mother-in-law died two days ago and I cannot even return to India for her cremation. We took this risk to earn money, not knowing we were being trapped,” said Suman, breaking down.

Another member of the group, 22-year-old Sumeet from Jammu, also went to Russia on a study visa. He said the woman agent misled them with promises of money and facilities.

“Initially, we worked in restaurants. Later, we moved to construction sites, where we met her,” he said.

Sharma, also enrolled at MSLU, said that only at Chilimnyi were they told they would be building bunkers.

“Camp officials first assured us we wouldn’t be taken to the battlefield. Within days, they pressured us to join. When we refused, they showed us the contracts we had signed in Russian. They threatened to kill us if we ran away or refused. Our friends in Moscow rushed to the Indian embassy, but no one is responding,” he said.

He added that they saw over 30 Indians at the camp, many of whom were sent to the frontline and never returned. “Now, only six of us remain. We also saw men from Nepal, Vietnam and Bangladesh trapped there.”

Sharma’s relative Khajuria, also from Jammu, said he too had been tricked.

“I worked in a restaurant but switched to construction for better pay. Earlier, the Russian Army directly recruited foreigners. Now, third-party agents are involved. We later learnt many never received salaries. My parents don’t know about my situation. If they did, they would be devastated,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vijay Sharma, 24, from Fatehabad, Haryana, said his family had approached chief minister Nayab Singh Saini for help.

“The chief minister assured my parents he would speak to external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, but we don’t know what will happen next,” he told The Wire.

This was Vijay’s second visit to Russia. He had earlier gone on a year-long study visa before returning home, and came back on a business visa on July 15.

“I was still settling down when I was tricked into joining the Army. As soon as we reached Chilimnyi, the agent stopped taking our calls. We had no one to question about our status,” he said emotionally.

Most of the men said they were unaware of the full extent of the Russia-Ukraine war, as life in Moscow and St. Petersburg had seemed normal.

“The agents targeted the less-educated and financially vulnerable. Gursewak’s mother keeps calling me for news of him. I don’t know how to tell her he has been sent to the front,” one of them said, pleading for their early return.

Earlier this year, the families of three other missing Indians, Jagdeep Kumar from Jalandhar, and Ajay Yadav and Azamuddin Khan from Uttar Pradesh, had travelled to Russia in search of their relatives, missing for two years in the war.

Following their visit, senior officials from the MEA told The Wire that 18 Indians were still unaccounted for in the conflict and that efforts were underway to trace them.

“We are planning to visit Russia again and have already informed the MEA,” said Jagdeep.

Later on Monday (September 11) the MEA issued a statement urging Indians to stay away from any offers to join the Russian army.

"We have seen reports about Indian nationals having been recruited recently into the Russian army. Government has on several occasions over the past one year underlined the risks and dangers inherent in this course of action and cautioned Indian citizens accordingly. We have also taken up the matter with Russian authorities, both in Delhi and Moscow, asking that this practice be ended and that our nationals be released," said the MEA in the statement.

"We are also in touch with the families of the affected Indian citizens. We once again strongly urge all Indian nationals to stay away from any offers to join the Russian army as this is a course fraught with danger," the statement added.

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