15 Punjab youths forced into Ukraine war since June, relatives say police going ‘soft’ on travel agents

As fresh reports emerge of youths from Punjab and Haryana being pushed into the Russia-Ukraine war, the families of those stranded have accused the Centre and state governments of failing to crack down on traffickers and travel agents who had been sending their children to the “death zone”.

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At least 15 Punjab youths are learnt to have been taken to Russia since June on the pretext of jobs, but forced to join the army there. Two Fatehabad (Haryana) youths stranded in Ukraine had released a distress video recently, claiming their recruitment into the Russian army. This is despite India having repeatedly requested Moscow to stop the recruitment of its nationals for the war.

The relatives of several stranded youths from different parts of Punjab today accompanied Congress MLA Pargat Singh to Chandigarh.

Jagdeep Kumar of Goraya in Jalandhar, whose brother Mandeep is stuck in Ukraine, claimed at least five of the fresh recruits had died while three were missing. “The youths have been making frantic calls to the Indian embassy in Russia, but there has been little response,” he told The Tribune.

Gurmel Singh of Malerkotla, whose son is among those missing, and Amritsar-based Parminder Kaur, whose husband Jagdeep Singh died in the conflict, said the compensation or pension to the families of those killed or missing was allegedly being siphoned off by travel agents.

Pargat called it a “systemic failure”. “The saddest part is the Punjab Police’s inability to track down these agents,” he said, claiming the matter was even raised with the Ministry of External Affairs, but to no avail. “These are not isolated cases of fraud, but a coordinated trafficking racket that Indian authorities have failed to acknowledge or tackle,” he said.

The MLA demanded a direct diplomatic engagement with the Russian authorities at the highest level to secure the release and repatriation of all those stranded. “Immediate legal proceedings under trafficking laws must be initiated against travel agents and all those complicit in this organised crime. The compensation for the victim families must be expedited and a joint task force should be formed to end this exploitation,” he said.