India previously requested Russian assistance to repatriate nationals lured to the conflict zone
Thirty-five Indian nationals who fought in the Ukraine conflict alongside the Russian Army have returned home since Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue during his visit to Moscow in July, New Delhi confirmed on Thursday.
Speaking at a media briefing in the Indian capital, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 45 Indians in total have been discharged from the Russian military, with ten of them returning before Modi’s visit to Russia. Efforts are ongoing to secure release of around 50 more people, he added.
In August, Indian Foreign Minister Subhrahmanyam Jaishankar said that 91 Indian nationals had been recruited into the Russian Army over the previous nine months, eight of whom had died.
“[The] prime minister [during his visit to Moscow] got President [Vladimir] Putin’s assurance that any Indian national who is in the service of the Russian Army will be discharged and released,” the minister said at the time.
Indians were being lured to Russia by human traffickers who offered them lucrative jobs, according to multiple reports in Indian media, as well as statements by New Delhi’s primary investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI said in March that it had opened a criminal case against 19 individuals and entities for their alleged role in recruiting Indians, and had made several arrests.
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