Indians working with Russian Army return home, share harrowing tales

Four Indians returned to the country on Saturday (September 14) from Russia after they were deceived by an employment agent and made to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war.

One of them is Mohammed Sufiyan, a Telangana native who left India in November last year and ended up working as a support staff for the Russian army. The other three who returned on Saturday are from Karnataka, part of a larger group of about 60 young men from India who were duped by employment agents.

Agonising wait for family

The return of Sufiyan (22), who belongs to Narayanpet district, ends the agonising wait of his family members who were worried about his safety as he was helping the Russian military in its war with Ukraine.

Sufiyan said he was promised a security-related job and was not told about having to help the troops in the war. He was told that he would have to undergo training for three months after which his salary would increase.

Sufiyan managed to release a video about seven months ago, pleading to be rescued from Russia.

The families of the young men then appealed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who facilitated their rescue.

Speaking to PTI in July this year, Sufiyan's brother Salman had hoped for his brother's early return home following PM Narendra Modi's visit to Russia.

Russia had agreed to India's demand to ensure early release of Indian nationals working with the Russian military as support staff after PM Modi "very strongly" raised the issue with President Vladimir Putin during his visit.

Harrowing tales

Sufiyan shared some terrible stories of what they went through during their time in Russia with the Times of India.

He said they were treated like slaves, were woken up at 6 am, and made to work for 15 hours at a stretch – with no rest or sleep. He said the conditions were inhuman, and they had to survive on meagre rations while carrying out difficult tasks.

They were made to dig trenches, and were trained to use assault rifles, hand grenades, and explosives.

They were exhausted at times, physically and mentally. But if they showed any signs of slacking, bullets were fired at them and they were forced to continue with their laborious tasks.

They were also broken psychologically since their phones were taken from them and they were out of touch with the outside world and unable to contact their families. They lived in a world of uncertainty, fearful for their lives.

The only thing that kept their spirits up was the hope that they might one day return home to their families.

(With agency inputs)