Jalandhar: As the nation geared up to celebrate its 77th Independence Day, a group of hapless families from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were in Delhi to protest against the Modi government and seek the early discharge of their sons stuck in the Russian army.
The families of around ten youths reached Delhi on Monday, where they held a protest at India Gate on Tuesday and in front of the Russian embassy on Wednesday (August 14).
As per the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as of earlier this month, eight Indian nationals are confirmed to have died on the battlefront, while 69 awaited early discharge from the Russian army.
Recently, a Haryana-based youth also died in Russia. His death was confirmed by the Russian embassy.
Reports of around 100 youths from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and some other states who were tricked into joining the Russian army surfaced in March this year, leading to panic among their families.
It was learnt that after giving them some formal training, the Russian army sent them to different places on the battlefront, causing them to have no direct contact with one another.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up this issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow last month, but no breakthrough has been achieved so far.
The distraught families said they were heartbroken at the lack of progress by the Modi government so far.
Holding a banner in Hindi on how Punjab’s Mandeep Kumar and others were tricked into joining the Russian army, some protesting families demanded that their kin be brought back home as soon as possible and that strict action be taken against travel agents who misled their kin into thinking they would serve as support staff in the Russian military.
Many of the men trapped in Russia said they were promised Russian citizenship and other benefits in exchange for working such support roles before they were tricked or coerced into serving as soldiers in the army.
Jagdeep Kumar, brother of Mandeep Kumar, who was forced to join the Russian army, led the protest at the Russian embassy and at India Gate. Mandeep hails from Goraya town in Punjab’s Jalandhar district.
Aggrieved family members protest outside the Russian embassy. Photo: Special arrangement.
“Today afternoon, we held a protest outside the Russian embassy in Delhi pleading to be allowed to meet some embassy officials. However, neither did they allow us to meet anyone, nor did they let us click photographs of the protest. We held silent protests both at India Gate and at the Russian embassy,” Jagdeep said.
The families also shared a list of 15 youths who were fighting on the battlefront against their will. They called on the Modi government to consider facilitating the early discharge of their sons from the Russian army on priority.
‘We are clueless and trapped badly’
Speaking to The Wire, Jagdeep, who led the protests, said that Modi should keep his word and bail out all affected families from this crisis.
“We have been repeatedly demanding that the Modi government should at least issue a list of all of those who died and of others who were on the battlefront. We came to Delhi hoping that our protest would gather the national media’s attention, but barring a few independent media houses, nobody covered our protest,” Jagdeep said.
He added: “We do not have enough money to stay longer here and will have to go back home without meeting any senior politicians in this regard.”
The Wire also accessed a copy of Mandeep’s e-visa issued by Russia’s foreign ministry, which said it was valid from December 10, 2023 to February 3, 2024.
Notably, Mandeep and 40 other youth from Punjab and Haryana were tricked into joining the Russian army. Mandeep had initially visited Armenia with two friends in August 2023. They planned to travel to Italy from there, but were trapped in Russia en route.
Jagdeep said, “My brother has slight physical disability in his foot and was forced to join the Russian army. We got an FIR registered against a Kapurthala-based travel agent under sections 406, 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act, 2014 at the Goraya police station in Jalandhar.
“While the Punjab police is yet to take any action, we have received threatening calls from the travel agent. It is our humble request to the Modi government to save our sons, we are clueless and trapped badly,” he said.
Families from UP seek Modi government’s help
Speaking to The Wire from Delhi, Sunil Yadav from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh said that his elder brother Yogendra Yadav was posted at Donetsk and Luhansk in southeastern Ukraine when he last spoke to him on April 25. His brother, along with another man named Sunil Yadav, Shyam Sundar, Ramchandra, Azharuddin, Homeshwar Prasad and Brijesh Yadav – all from Azamgarh and Mau districts in UP – and others were stuck in the Russian army.
“My brother sustained a bullet injury on his hand after which he was admitted to hospital. But he was not given any food or water. He was left to fend for himself. My brother was crying over the phone when I last spoke to him. He told me that those Indians who were refusing to go to the frontline were being beaten and held as captive”, he said.
Yadav said that a total of 14 people from Azamgarh went to Russia in the months of January and February this year.
An old photo of Sunil Yadav, Shyam Sundar, Ramchandra, Azharuddin, Homeshwar Prasad, Brijesh Yadav and others after reaching Russia. Photo: Special arrangement.
“While one group left for Russia on January 17, another one went on February 1. All of them went through a Delhi-based travel agent, who informed them that they would be hired as helpers and guards in the Russian army, but after landing there, they were forced to join the Russian army as soldiers against their will”, he said.
Sunil also said his brother was a class five passout and has been working as a labourer throughout his life.
“Before going to Russia, my brother also worked as a shuttering labourer in Oman and Saudi Arabia, but this time he fell in the trap of a fake travel agent. As if that was not enough, the travel agent also took his share from my brother’s [Russian army] salary. We have been duped badly,” he added.
Sunil become emotional and said, “We do not know if he is alive or not. Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured us that our breadwinners would come back soon, but nothing has happened so far. We feel helpless and heartbroken.”
Contrary to the external affairs minister’s statement in parliament that 91 Indians were recruited to Russian army, with eight having died and 69 awaiting early discharge, minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh on August 1, 2024 had informed parliament that the MEA did not have the exact number of Indians fighting the war in the Russian army.
He had also said that 12 Indian nationals had already left the Russian armed forces while 63 others were seeking early discharge.
Two men from another UP family stuck in Russian army
Ajay Yadav, another youth from Azamgarh, told The Wire that his father Kanhaiya Yadav and his maternal uncle Binod Yadav from Mau in Uttar Pradesh left for Russia in two groups along with some other men.
“My father is around 50 years old but was still forced to join the Russian army,” Ajay said. He added that before he went to Russia, his father worked as a gardener in Malaysia, but was attracted by the possibility of acquiring a one-year Russian work visa and the promise of earning Rs 1.95 lakh per month working as a guard or helper in the Russian army.
“The travel agent kept misleading us all these months by claiming that he would bring our men back. We have not even registered an FIR against Delhi-based agent Sumit and his Russia-based counterpart Dushyant. Now, Sumit’s mobile is switched off and his Delhi office address at Bhikaji Cama Place was untraceable,” Ajay also said.
The last time Ajay spoke to his father was in May and at that time, he had sustained an ankle injury while on the battlefront.
“We were shocked to hear that my father and another person who was injured in the thigh walked for 21 kilometres to search for a hospital. Nobody provided them with medical assistance. However, when he got blisters in mouth later, he was shifted to another hospital”, Ajay added.
He said he remained in touch with his father from May 8 to May 25. However, Ajay’s family have not spoken to his father after the 25th. “We do not know anything about my father’s whereabouts. I think this crisis could have been averted had the Modi government banned all kinds of travel to Russia considering the ongoing war,” Ajay said, breaking down.
He also said that when he lost contact with his father, he got in touch with one Rakesh Yadav, who was also undergoing treatment at a hospital in Russia. “Rakesh Yadav informed us that Russian army officials had confiscated the mobiles and passports of all Indian nationals. They do not let anybody over the phone and stand guard everywhere.
“Recently, the Russian embassy also informed the family of one of our distant maternal uncles, Sunil Yadav, that he also died on the battlefront in Russia. We are heartbroken and the government is not doing anything to save our breadwinners”, he said.
The families have now decided to meet Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav to urge them to take up their case with the Modi government.
