Several Indians who were released from the Russian Army pursued every case: MEA

After Indian officials took up their issue and decided to prosecute all similar instances, a number of Indian people were released from the Russian Army.

In a statement released on Monday, the external affairs ministry refuted “inaccurate” media reports claiming that “Indians with the Russian army seeking help for discharge” and stated that “every such case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities.”

The statement said that examples of Indians serving in the Russian Army had been “brought to the attention of the Ministry and have been taken up with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi,” but it did not provide specifics about the media stories to which it was alluding. “Several Indians have already been discharged as a result,” the statement said.

The number of Indians who served in the Russian Army and the number who were released remain unclear. There may be as many as 100 people serving in the Russian Army, according to reports.

The statement, “We are steadfastly dedicated to vigorously pursuing with Russian authorities all pertinent cases involving Indian nationals seeking an early release from the Russian army,” as a matter of first importance.

In response to claims that Indian nationals who obtained support positions with the Russian Army had been compelled to fight alongside Russian forces, India issued a warning to its people last week to avoid becoming involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

At the time, the Indian embassy in Moscow had “regularly taken up this matter with the relevant Russian authorities for their early discharge,” according to the foreign affairs ministry, which confirmed that “a few” Indians had enlisted in the Russian Army for support positions.

According to media sources, a number of Indians who enlisted in the Russian military as “security helpers” were forced to fight with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border.

Unverified sources claim that among the Indian nationals, there were at least two fatalities and a few injuries.

To bring back the Indians entangled in the conflict, the Karnataka government and MP Asaduddin Owaisi, the head of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), petitioned the foreign affairs ministry. Many of these Indians are from Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, and Karnataka.

Priyank Kharge, the minister for Karnataka, and the families of several of the Indians have claimed that recruiting agencies sent them to Russia. According to Kharge, they were recruited to fight against Ukraine by the state-funded private military firm Wagner Group in Russia.

Up to 200 individuals from Nepal were reportedly recruited by the Russian military, according to earlier reports. The Russian Army claimed the lives of six Nepalese nationals during the conflict with Ukraine, as confirmed by the country’s foreign ministry in December.

On Saturday, the conflict that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 will be three years old. Since the start of the conflict, 30,457 civilian deaths—including 10,582 fatalities and 19,875 injuries—have been confirmed by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.