Awantipora, Sept 17: “Indians go back,” ordered a Russian military commander in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. The import of the diktat sank in slowly for Azad Yousuf Kumar whose search for a brighter future had landed him in the heart of the Russia-Ukraine war.
And then it dawned on him. He could go home.
The youth from Awantipora district in South Kashmir, who toiled hard in the war-torn region and endured a near-death experience after getting shot during frontline combat training, was ecstatic that he would reunite with his family after almost two years.
Azad recalled that the Russian commander, in broken English, “read out a few names and then told us ‘Indians go back’. He knew only that much English. We could not believe that he was actually talking about our freedom.” The Russian officer mentioned a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting that it had affected the status of their travel.
“He said something like, ‘President Putin met Mr Modi and now your contract is getting cancelled’,” Azad said.
Expressing his deep appreciation for the prime minister, he said, “I think it was PM Modi’s Russia visit that helped me reach home safely. During this period, my wife had already given birth to our son.” More than two years ago, Azad came across the YouTube channel “Baba Vlogs”, reportedly run by Mumbai resident Faisal Khan, that promised jobs in Russia as security helpers, with initial salaries ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and potentially increasing to Rs 1 lakh.
Convinced by the success stories showcased, he applied for the position, paying a hefty sum of Rs 1.3 lakh as travel and processing fees. He left his Poshwan village on December 14, 2022, for Mumbai, where he met a job seeker from Gujarat.
The duo were then sent to Chennai. On December 19, they arrived at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport when the reality of their situation shocked them to the core. They were handed over to the Russian military.
“It sent shivers down my spine. They made us sign a contract in Russian, and all we could do was plead for help,” Azad recounted.
They were soon transported to the Russian-Ukrainian border for frontline combat training. Azad’s harrowing experience included a gruelling journey in a cargo aircraft and army trucks to Luhansk. Along with six other Indian recruits, they faced unimaginable hardships.
“We couldn’t speak the language and had no one to turn to for help,” he said, recalling their desperate pleas for assistance.
Just days into their training, Azad was shot in the foot and spent 18 days in the hospital. “It was like an apocalypse. I didn’t know how to use a gun and that caused my injury.” During this period, he witnessed the death of some fellow Indian recruits, including his close friend from Gujarat.
“While being taken to hospital after getting shot, my eyes were closing. But the doctor accompanying me would slap me and tell me not to shut my eyes. I had lost a lot of blood.” “Suddenly, he started talking about India, Rabindranath Tagore, Indira Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi to keep me awake. I told him that I didn’t want to die. Thankfully, I was saved,” Azad said.
Now, reunited with his family, Azad looks to rebuild his life and provide a better future for his son while sharing his cautionary tale to warn others against the perils of seeking job opportunities abroad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his informal talks with Vladimir Putin over dinner at the Russian leader’s dacha or country home in July, had raised the issue of early discharge of Indian nationals who were misled into the service of the Russian Army.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra later said the Russian side promised early discharge of all Indian nationals from the service of the Russian Army.
In June, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the issue of Indian nationals serving with the Russian Army remains a matter of “utmost concern” and demanded action from Moscow over it.
On June 11, India said two Indian nationals, who were recruited by the Russian Army, had recently been killed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which took the number of such deaths to four.
Following the deaths of two Indians, the MEA demanded a “verified stop” to further recruitment of Indian nationals by the Russian Army.
In a strongly-worded statement, it said India demanded that there be a “verified stop to any further recruitment of Indian nationals by the Russian Army and that such activities would not be in “consonance with our partnership.” In March this year, 30-year-old Hyderabad resident Mohammed Asfan succumbed to injuries sustained while serving with Russian troops on the frontlines with Ukraine.
In February, Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangua, a 23-year-old resident of Surat in Gujarat, died in a Ukrainian air strike while serving as a “security helper” in the Donetsk region.
