Free Indians duped into army, Moscow told
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said strong action has been initiated against agents and unscrupulous elements who recruited the Indians on false pretexts.
Representative Image
NEW DELHI: Several Indian nationals have been “duped” to work with the Russian Army and India has strongly taken up the matter with Moscow for their early discharge, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said strong action has been initiated against agents and unscrupulous elements who recruited the Indians on false pretexts.
Jaiswal said India remains committed to ensuring the early release of its nationals serving as support staff with the Russian Army.
The MEA spokesperson’s comments at his weekly media briefing came days after 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. Another Indian, who also had worked as a support staff to the Russian army, died several days back.
The MEA spokesperson said India is trying its best to bring back their mortal remains.
He around 20 people have contacted the Indian government and it is doing its best to locate them.
However, the exact number of Indians working as support staff in the Russian Army is not yet known. In his remarks, Jaiswal appealed to Indian nationals to not get “swayed” by offers made by agents for support jobs with the Russian Army, saying it is fraught with danger and risk to life.