India urges citizens not to risk lives by taking up support jobs with Russian Army

New Delhi, March 8

Against the backdrop of death of two Indians serving as support staff with Russian military units, India on Friday called on its nationals not to risk their lives by taking up such jobs and asserted that it is focused on securing the early discharge of all persons working in similar positions.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said several Indians had been “duped” into working with the Russian Army and New Delhi has strongly taken up the matter with Moscow for their early discharge.

In his weekly media briefing, Jaiswal appealed to Indian nationals not to get “swayed” by offers made by agents for support jobs with the Russian Army, saying it is fraught with danger and risk to life.

The MEA spokesperson’s comments at his weekly media briefing came days after 30-year-old Indian national Mohammed Asfan from Hyderabad, who was duped into joining Russia’s war against Ukraine, was killed.

The Indian Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday confirmed Asfan’s death in a post on X without mentioning the reason or circumstances behind his demise.

Asfan was the second Indian to be killed after the death of Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangukiya, a 23-year-old resident of Gujarat. Mangukiya died in a Ukrainian air strike last month while serving as a security helper in the Donetsk region.

Jaiswal said around 20 Indians had contacted the Indian government. “Now we have seen some more, we have seen some videos, we are trying to contact them.”

The exact number of Indians working as support staff to the Russian Army is not yet known.

“Several Indian nationals have been duped into working with the Russian Army. We have strongly taken up the matter with the Russian government for early discharge of such Indian nationals,” he said.

The MEA spokesperson said strong action hds been initiated against agents and unscrupulous elements who recruited the Indians on “false pretexts and promises”.

“The CBI on Thursday busted a major human trafficking network conducting searches in several cities and collecting incriminating evidence. A case of human trafficking has been registered against several agents,” he said.