The Indian government has just admitted that several of the country’s citizens have been recruited by the Russian Army to fight in the war in Ukraine. The revelation comes at a time when the relatives of these combatants fear they will never hear from them again. New Delhi is negotiating with Moscow to repatriate these Indian citizens.
(RFI) The young Mohammed Sufiyan was recruited at the end of 2023 as a simple security agent for the Russian Army. He left for Moscow in the hope of a high salary. However, he was soon given a gun to fight on the front against the Ukrainian army. Today, his family is worried because they haven’t heard from him, as his brother, Imran, told the Indian news agency ANI.
“Another Indian from Kashmir who was there told us that my brother had been shot in the leg and could no longer walk. But we haven’t heard from him for almost two months. The agents who recruited him didn’t say he would fight!” he adds.
According to an investigation by The Hindu, around a hundred Indians were hired as security agents for the Russian Army on a one-year contract. Several were then pushed into the front line, where some were injured.
Faced with pressure from the families, the Indian Foreign Minister announced on Monday (26) that he had spoken to the Russian Chancellor and that several recruits had been demobilized.
Two years of war
The war in Ukraine entered its third year on Saturday (24). According to international observers, Kiev is in a weakened position, with help from allies dwindling, while the Russian military machine is gaining power.
When Vladimir Putin announced that Russian troops would enter Ukrainian territory in the early hours of February 24, 2022, the Russian president believed they could take Kiev in a few days, but Ukrainian resistance forced Moscow to withdraw.
In 2023, it was Ukraine that experienced the failure of its major counter-offensive. The G7 decided to sign bilateral security contracts with Ukraine. After London in January this year, Kiev signed such an agreement last week with Germany and France, and 25 other states have joined the initiative, including Poland. Italy also plans to sign a document along the same lines.
These security agreements concern the provision of military equipment, the training of Ukrainian forces and the strengthening of Ukraine’s defense industry.