According to the Indian intelligence agency, young people were lured to Russia with promises of work and sent to the front lines against their will.
In India, a large human trafficking network was exposed, in the framework of which young men were offered to go to the Russian Federation to work as “helpers” in the army, and then they were forced to participate in the war against Ukraine. This is reported by Reuters regarding India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
According to the CBI, about 35 Indian citizens were sent to Russia under this scheme. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India previously mentioned only 20 men recruited by the Russians.
It is also reported that at least two men who went to the Russian Federation in the hope of working as “assistants” in the army died on the Russian-Ukrainian front. One of these deaths was officially confirmed by the Indian Embassy in Russia.
“Indian citizens who became victims of human trafficking were trained in combat operations and sent to advanced bases in the zone of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict against their will,” the department emphasized.
According to the CBI, human traffickers operating in several Indian states lured people to Russia using social media and local agents.
Police raided several locations, including New Delhi and Mumbai, which led to the seizure of 50 million rupees ($605,000), as well as some documents and electronic records. It is also reported that some suspects have been detained for questioning.
It will be recalled that on 6 March, Indian journalist Uma Suthir reported that a group of Indian citizens was fraudulently recruited into the Russian Armed Forces and is now fighting against Ukraine. They wrote a video message in which they said that they were “forced to sign documents”, explaining that the alternative to serving in the Russian army would be 10 years in prison.
Earlier, on 25 January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Narayan Prakash Saud, called on Russia to stop recruiting Nepalese citizens for the war in Ukraine and to return home the Nepalese who are already serving in the Russian army.
Anastasia Andrusiak
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