New Delhi: A 30-year-old man from Hyderabad, who was allegedly forced to join the Russian Army after falling prey to a job fraud, was killed in the country’s ongoing war with Ukraine, India Today reported, citing officials, on Wednesday (March 6).
The family of the man, identified as Mohammed Asfan, reached out to All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi seeking assistance in bringing him back from Russia. However, when AIMIM contacted the Indian Embassy in Moscow, officials confirmed that Asfan had died, the report said.
Following the report, Embassy of India in Russia has tweeted, “We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Mohammed Asfan. We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities. Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India.”
We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Shri Mohammed Asfan. We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities. Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India.@MEAIndia
— India in Russia (@IndEmbMoscow) March 6, 2024
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Asfan, along with several others, allegedly fell victim to deceptive agents who recruited them as ‘helpers’ to aid the Russian Army in the war.
This news comes weeks after a 23-year-old Indian man from Gujarat, Hamil Mangukiya, died in the Russia-Ukraine war. According to the Hindu, he was hired as a security helper by the Russian Army.
An India Today report said that Mangukiya had applied for a job in Russia through an online advertisement and reached Moscow from Chennai. He was killed in an airstrike by Ukraine on February 21 in the Donetsk region of the Russia-Ukraine border.
On February 29, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, during a press conference, said that there are “20-odd people (Indians) who have gone their to work as support staff or as helpers with the Russian army.”
“We are trying our level best for their early discharge,” he added.
However, as per previous media reports, 100 Indians may have been recruited as security helpers by the Russian army. While they were assured that they would not be deployed in active conflict zones, they were forced to go to combat areas on the Ukraine war frontline.
Earlier on Wednesday, seven Indians who are stuck in Russia reached out to the Indian government to facilitate their discharge as they were forced to join the Russian army.
In a video, one of them said that they went to Russia on tourist visas and were detained by the police for not having a “slip”. Subsequently, they were forced by the police to join the army as “helpers” or risk facing a 10-year jail term.
“We were told that we only have to work as helpers. But they enlisted us for training in arms and ammunition and are preparing to send us to Ukraine. They kept us hungry and snatched our phones,” The Hindu quoted one of the men as saying.
