Indians tricked to fight in Ukraine war; Asaduddin Owaisi wants EAM S Jaishankar to step in

Sandeep Dikshit

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New Delhi, February 21

The simmering problem of recruiting youngsters from third world countries to fight for Russia or Ukraine has come out in the open in India with MP Asaduddin Owaisi writing to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar about a dozen Indians who were offered jobs of security guards in Russia by travel agents, but have been forced to fight for its army instead.

What the MP said

Unemployed men from Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, J&K and UP were promised jobs by agents in Russia, where they were told that they would work as security agents, but were sent to the battlefield. Asaduddin Owaisi, MP

“Unemployed men from Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, J&K and UP were promised jobs by agents in Russia. They were told they would work as security agents there, but were sent to the battlefield. I met their families in December last year. I’ve written to the External Affairs Minister (EAM) and India’s Ambassador to Russia to bring them back,” said Owaisi.

More worryingly, intelligence agencies here have picked up signals of the active involvement of some embassies from western countries in facilitating the travel of unsuspecting youths.

Many YouTube channels in various languages, including Hindi, Nepali, Bengal and Sinhalese, have been luring youngsters to fight for either side, according to intelligence agencies.

Ukraine’s recruitment of economically disadvantaged third world country youths is now being matched by Russia after President Vladimir Putin approved a provision allowing accelerated citizenship to foreigners, if they participated in the conflict.

For many in the Asian subcontinent, where burials are frowned upon by some religious denominations, the last rites have become an issue for the relatives of the fallen youngsters. There are reports that some Nepali youths were buried in the battlefield with no signs of exhumation of their remains to allow proper last rites back home.