Amritsar man dies fighting for Russian army family seeks govt help to bring back body

AMRITSAR: Tejpal Singh wanted to join the Army but little did his family know that this would become a reality only in a foreign land. And he would never return home.

"My husband went to Thailand in December last year to find a job. After staying there for a few days, he and his friends went to Russia on January 12 where he was recruited in the army," Singh's wife Parminder Kaur told PTI on Wednesday at the family's house in the Palam Vihar area here.

"Two days ago, one of my husband's friends called and told me that he was killed on the battlefield in Ukraine," Kaur said with tears rolling down her face.

She said Singh, who went to Russia on a tourist visa, was killed in March but the information of his death surfaced much later due to the conflict between the two countries.

The 30-year-old's body is yet to be found.

Nobody knows whether the body is in Russia or still in the custody of Ukraine, Kaur said.

"Last evening we sent emails to the Russian army and the Ministry of External Affairs to repatriate his body for the last rites," she said.

India on Tuesday said two of its nationals, who were recruited by the Russian army, have recently been killed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, taking the number of such deaths to four.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian embassy in Moscow has pressed the Russian authorities, including the Ministry of Defence, for early repatriation of mortal remains.

It said India has strongly taken up the matter with Russia and sought early release and return of all Indian nationals who are with the Russian army.

In March, 30-year-old Hyderabad resident Mohammed Asfan succumbed to injuries sustained while serving with Russian troops on the frontlines with Ukraine.

In February, Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangua, a 23-year-old resident of Surat in Gujarat, died in a Ukrainian air strike while serving as a "security helper" in the Donetsk region.