• Source:JND
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The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday reiterated its strong advisory against Indian nationals joining the Russian Army, after another case surfaced of young men being deceived by agents and forcibly sent to the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Official Spokesperson Shri Randhir Jaiswal, responding to media queries, said, “We have seen reports about Indian nationals having been recruited recently into the Russian army. The government has on several occasions over the past one year, underlined the risks and dangers inherent in this course of action and cautioned Indian citizens accordingly. We have also taken up the matter with Russian authorities, both in Delhi and Moscow, asking that this practice be ended and that our nationals be released. We are also in touch with the families of the affected Indian citizens.” He once again urged Indian nationals to “stay away from any offers to join the Russian Army as this is a course fraught with danger.”

The response comes after The Wire reported that seven Indian men, currently in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, claimed they had been lured to Russia on the pretext of construction jobs but were instead deployed to the frontline. According to the media outlet, a group of seven men, identified as Gursewak Singh, Sachin Khajuria, Sumeet Sharma, Buta Singh, Geetik Kumar, Ankit, and Vijay Singh, were allegedly lured by a third-party agent with promises of high-paying construction jobs outside Moscow.

How These Indians Were Duped?

The men shared videos with The Wire via WhatsApp, pleading with the Indian embassy in Moscow and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to secure their safe release. Speaking to The Wire a day before his deployment, he revealed

• They had travelled to Moscow on study and business visas, but were lured by a third-party agent with false promises of Rs 20 lakh per month for construction work.
• Instead, they were taken to a camp in Chilimnyi on August 18, 2025, given basic training, and forced into frontline deployment.
• Gursewak Singh, 26, from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, said officials threatened them with pistols and forced them to sign contracts in Russian.
• Sumeet Sharma, 22, from Jammu, said they were initially told they would only build bunkers but were later coerced into combat training.
• Victims also reported seeing over 30 Indians at the camp, along with men from Nepal, Vietnam and Bangladesh, many of whom never returned after being sent to the battlefield.
• Five members of their original 15-member group have already died at the frontlines, they claimed.

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Earlier this year, families of missing Indians from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh had also travelled to Russia in search of their relatives, missing for nearly two years in the conflict. MEA officials had confirmed that at least 18 Indians remain unaccounted so for.

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These reports add to growing concerns over the safety of Indian nationals in conflict-hit areas, with the government emphasizing that recruitment into foreign armies through deceptive means poses serious risks to life and security.