It’s been over two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has caused nearly half a million casualties, destroyed entire neighbourhoods, and escalated tensions between Russia and the West to an unprecedented level.
The war in Ukraine has disrupted global trade and adversely affected many with little to do with the conflict. Numerous foreign nationals from the global south are being forced to fight a war with no stakes and whose cause is alien to them.
Amongst these, are at least 91 Indian nationals who were forced to serve as the footsoldiers for the Russian military. Only a few Indians have been fortunate to escape the frontline and return home. Many others continue to suffer there, and at least eight Indians have been killed in the conflict so far. Many families continue to endure an agonising wait for the safe return of their loved ones, who remain unwilling combatants in a totally foreign conflict.
Following numerous reports of Indian citizens being recruited by Russia to fight in the conflict, The Wire reached out to these families and the Indian recruits. Since May 2024, we have constantly tracked and documented the story of Indian nationals who have been or still are entangled in this conflict.
It all began with an online job scam and the dream of a better future in a foreign country. The victims told The Wire they were duped by YouTube job scamsters, with many pointing fingers at Faisal Khan, a Dubai-based YouTuber who runs the Baba Vlogs channel. They were allegedly convinced that they would work as non-combatant workers and helpers in the Russian army, far away from the frontlines. Surat-based 23-year-old Hemil Mangulkiya was one of them.
Hemil’s father, Ashwin, told The Wire that his son was seeking better work opportunities in India when he came across a YouTube channel, Baba Vlogs, that promised unemployed Indians like him a job as a helper in the Russian Army. Despite constant reassurances from the channel clarifying that the particular post didn’t demand deployment, it ultimately did lead to Hemil’s forced deployment and his tragic death in a Ukrainian drone strike.
Hemil left for Russia on December 14, 2023, enticed by a promise of a salary of around 200,000 Indian Rupees per month to work as a helper in the Russian Army, according to Ashwin. However, on arrival in Russia, he was given combat weapons and forced to fight as part of the Army. The last reported contact Hemil had with his family was on the night of February 20, when he spoke to his father. An Indian acquaintance of Hemil who was also fighting in the war informed Ashwin that Hemil had died on February 23 in a drone attack in Ukraine.
Also read: Families of Men Trapped in Russian Army Protest At India Gate, Outside Russian Embassy
Twenty-six days after the incident, three of Hemil’s family members travelled to Russia in search of his deceased body. Ashwin told us it cost the family around Rs 3.5 lakh to search for Hemil and once his body was found, the cost of a body bag to make the return possible was borne by the Indian government. When we spoke to Ashwin Mangukiya for the first time at the beginning of May, he was preparing to depart for Russia on May 15 to collect his son’s documents and in search of compensation for his son’s death.
Ashwin Mangukiya travelled to Russia again seeking compensation for the loss of his son. He stayed in Russia for nearly two weeks at his own expense. He denied any kind of help from the Indian Embassy in Russia and the Indian government. According to him, the Russian government promised a compensation of Rs 1.3 crore within three months. He has already received Rs 45 lakh and is awaiting the remaining amount. He denied claims of being offered Russian citizenship as mentioned in several media reports.
Hemil’s photo shared by his father, Ashwin.
Mohammad Tahir, 24, another Gujarati recruit who somehow managed to escape Russia, explained that Hemil Mangukiya and several others were part of an earlier batch that had completed their training before he and his group arrived. Tahir recollected receiving a call from Hemil in February in which Hemil warned him of the scam they had become victims of and implored him to return to India. Hemil informed him that he was on the frontline somewhere near Luhansk, a Ukrainian city adjacent to the Russian border, and that several people were being killed every day.
Tahir told us that he approached a commander on-site, emphasising they were recruited as “security helpers” and not soldiers. He stated, “The camp where I was staying had badly injured army men coming in. Our commanders had confiscated our passports as they suspected we might perceive a threat to our lives and run away upon seeing the badly injured bodies. One night I stole my passport from my Russian senior commander and walked 2-3 kilometres away from the camp in Ryazan, Russia.”
Tahir then reached out to a YouTuber named Pathan who created videos on how to return from Russia if you became a victim of such a scam. Pathan assisted Tahir with arranging a taxi to Moscow and buying tickets back to Delhi. Tahir was questioned at the airport about overstaying his visa, however, he lied and said that his belongings had been stolen and was allowed to board the flight to Delhi after paying a fine.
Tahir told us he is still in contact with some friends and other men from different countries like Cuba, Azerbaijan, and Sri Lanka, who are still in Russia but are seeking ways of escaping. When asked about the scam he fell victim to, Tahir stated, “I want to say to the Russian government that they should clearly state in the contract and in the language of the country the men are from that they might be killed in a drone attack, bomb blast, or shooting. Not doing so is fraud. They are not even given enough training to survive such combat.”
Like Hemil, Tahir also fell victim to the Baba Vlogs YouTube videos after being promised Rs 2 lakh as a ‘security helper’ and a Russian passport after six months of employment.
“One day, I was searching for job opportunities in any country on YouTube and saw a video by Baba Vlogs”, Tahir recounted. He promised Rs 2 lakh for a security helper job and a Russian passport after six months of employment. “He [BabaVlogs] charged me Rs 3 lakh, including his fees and the cost of tickets from India to Moscow.”
On December 13, 2023, after paying Rs 3 lakh, Tahir received a call instructing him to travel to Chennai, where he met Hemil and nine other Indians who had also been selected as “security helpers”. After two days, Tahir and others travelled from Chennai to Moscow via Bahrain, and they were accompanied by a person named Nigel, who facilitated their journey. In Moscow, their SIM cards were confiscated and they were issued new ones. They were further instructed to avoid using any other means of communication, barring the messaging app Telegram.
Only two days after reaching Russia, Tahir found out that they had been deceived. “We were made to sign a contract which was in Russian. My family is in debt now; they had borrowed the money from somewhere, but they are relieved that I came back. I would never have gone to Russia for a Rs 2 lakh salary if I had been able to make even Rs 25,000 a month in India. There are not enough job or business opportunities for us in India. I was only paid 50,000 rubles (equivalent to Rs 47,000) in my Russian bank account for my one and half month service in Russia.”
Since his return, Tahir has set up a makeshift shop to sell fruits and vegetables to support his family.
The Indian recruits were subjected to a 15-day intense training programme, which included rifle shooting, grenade throwing, and basic rifle repair. “We were informed about this training earlier too, but nobody told us that we had to use these skills at the border,” Tahir added. Tahir recounted that they were taken to Ryazan, a training camp where other soldiers were being t
Tahir
rained for combat, about 200 km from Moscow, where their phones were also confiscated. Most of the Indian recruits, including Hemil, had managed to sneak another phone into the training camp which they used to stay in contact with each other.
Upon viewing the now deleted Baba Vlogs videos, we observed a number of false claims about the so-called ‘helper’ roles including “You don’t have to be on the frontline of the war, operate a cannon, or fire a gun” and “Since you’ll become a government official, you’ll get good food and shelter, and priority if you want to become a permanent resident.”
Hemil Mangukiya and Tahir travelled to Russia under the impression they would work as helpers, but in conversations with other victims and journalists investigating this issue, we discovered others anticipated different non-combat roles, such as plumbers and security guards.
Even some Indian tourists, such as Harsh Kumar from Karnal, Haryana, found themselves embroiled in the middle of the conflict. Kumar and six other tourists were misled by a travel agent who promised a tour of Belarus, where on the way the Russian Army subsequently apprehended them following a dispute with the taxi driver over the agreed cost.
We spoke to Harsh’s brother, Sahil Kumar, 20. He informed us that upon arrest, the group had their phones confiscated and were held in jail for six days. They were then presented with an ultimatum: enlist as “helpers” in the army or face a decade-long imprisonment in a Russian jail. Choosing the former under duress, they have since released several distressing videos from their positions with the Russian Army. These recordings detail their harsh conditions, including illness, being forced to dig trenches and deployment to the frontlines. The videos are replete with desperate pleas for rescue.
After signing the contract, Harsh was able to contact his brother and relay that they were promised around Rs 2 lakh as a monthly salary. The Russian army allegedly opened bank accounts for them, however, they were not given access so do not know what or if they are being paid. Harsh further explained to his brother that they were sent to a training area with bunkers and camps and received 10 days of weapon training before being sent directly to the frontline.
Harsh’s family lives in Karnal, Haryana, and only learned of the incident a week after he was apprehended. His brother, Sahil, is leaving no stone unturned to get his brother back home. While speaking to us, he said, “My brother has completed high school and was passionate about travelling. He left for Russia on November 26, 2023 and his plan was to stay there for around 20-25 days. I wanted him to go to some South Asian countries where visas on arrival are available for Indians. However, I later learned from an acquaintance that Russian visas were being issued easily, so I helped him obtain one. There were seven people in total, five from Punjab and two from Haryana, including my brother. They all met at the airport on their way to Russia. They all had tourist visas, but I don’t know their exact purpose except my brother.”
An old picture of Harsh Kumar.
In early March, the group reported that they were stationed at a Russian army camp in the war-torn region of Donetsk before being moved deeper into the conflict zone. Their ongoing plight highlights the severe circumstances faced by foreign nationals caught in the complexities of the war in Ukraine.
We managed to contact Harsh via WhatsApp after obtaining his number from his brother and exchanged several messages and voice notes with him. He could not call us due to poor network connectivity.
The first time we spoke to Harsh via WhatsApp about three months ago, the biggest fear he expressed was about going to the frontline. According to our latest conversation, he has now been to the frontline three times already. In the first conversation with us on May 20, he detailed about his co-inhabitants, “Fifteen others who were living with us, from different countries like Cuba, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and including two from Russia, who were killed just yesterday. Another problem we are facing is that we don’t know the Russian language.”
On July 24, Harsh shared with us a video in which Gurpreet Singh, hailing from Hoshiyarpur, Punjab, was urging the Indian government for his rescue from the Russian Army. In the same video, Gurpreet was scared of being sent to the frontlines and feared for his life.
Speaking to The Wire, Gurpreet’s brother said that the way in which he describes the situation at the Frontlines is bone-chilling. “They don’t even pick the dead bodies. They are left to rot or be eaten by dogs.” Ten days later, Harsh updated us about the whereabouts of Gurpreet with his pictures, where he was badly injured in a drone attack and was hospitalised there.
Screengrab from Gurpreet Singh’s video in which he expresses his fear for his life and urges the Indian government to resuce him.
Gurpreet got badly injured a couple of weeks after he made his video seeking help.
Sahil (Harsh’s brother) told us that Harsh never said anything about the casualties and injuries in the ongoing conflict to him or his mother. According to Sahil, their mother is in a constant state of distress about the well-being of Harsh and has not been keeping well for months. Sahil said that he has also written applications to the ministry of external affairs, Karnal MP, and even to his district magistrate.
Almost a month after taking the oath as Prime Minister for the third time, on July 8, Narendra Modi undertook a state visit to Russia. It was the second foreign visit after his re-election in June 2024, and the first standalone visit to a foreign nation in his third tenure. One of the major highlights of his visit was claims of Russia agreeing to facilitate a safe transfer of Indian nationals working in the Russian Army.
The issue of Indians fighting the Russian war as soldiers also assumes significant political relevance as in the BJP’s campaigning for the general elections, it also pushed a narrative of Prime Minister Modi single-handedly putting a halt to the war to ensure the rescue of trapped Indian students in Ukraine.
On August 9, replying to a question posed in Lok Sabha by AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress MP Adoor Prakash, external affairs minister S Jaishankar replied, “We take this issue very seriously. I have myself raised this issue numerous times with the Russian foreign minister and when the Prime Minister was in Moscow last month he raised it personally with President Putin and he got his assurance that any Indian national who is in the service of the Russian army will be discharged.”
Regarding the actions taken by the government, he said that the CBI registered a criminal case against 19 individuals and entities and that sufficient evidence surfaced against 10 human traffickers and four accused have been arrested. On the status of the discussion between India and the Russian government he said, “After the Prime minister himself has taken the matter with the Russian president and the Russian president himself has given an assurance, we should not jump the gun and say the Russians are not serious on this matter. I think it is important to hold the Russian government to their word. It is most important for us. We are not here to score points or enter into debate. We are here to get back those 69 people. Because Indian citizens should not be serving in the army of foreign land.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) uncovered a human trafficking network spread across several states that lured gullible young men through social media channels and agents with the promise of highly paid jobs in Russia. The trafficked Indians “were trained in combat roles” and deployed against their wishes at frontline bases in the Russia-Ukraine war zone, putting their lives in grave danger, the CBI said.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has not just led to huge human and economic costs for both countries in the war, Europe, and tensions with the West but also for the global south where countries such as India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka have become fodder supplying lines for Russia.
The people from the Indian subcontinent were forced to fight a war without their consent, using fraudulent means. While some people have lost their lives as their families mourn for the dead, others are still going through an antagonising wait for their loved ones to return. The bureaucratic hurdles, the thousands of kilometres, and the uncharted territory only aggravate this incomprehensible situation.