India has returned home 85 of its citizens who were recruited into the Russian army. Indian authorities are working on the release of 20 more citizens.
This was reported by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Vikram Misri, Hindustan Times reports.
Among the returnees are also the bodies of Indians killed in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The return of the remaining Indians is expected to be discussed during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian leader Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
According to Misri, the Indian side is in "very close contact" with interlocutors in the ministries of foreign affairs and defense of Russia on "the issue of Indians who were illegally or otherwise recruited to participate in the Russian army."
Indians are lured into the Russian army by deception — through social networks and local agents. They were offered jobs or admission to "private universities." However, when they arrive in Russia, their passports are taken away, and later they are sent to the front against Ukraine.
According to the Hindustan Times, at least nine Indians died at the front.
- Currently, there are established facts of recruitment of citizens of Nepal, India, Syria, Serbia, Sri Lanka and Somalia into the Russian army. The Russian Federation also recruited illegal migrants to its army from the Finnish border who tried to get to the EU through Russia. As for the citizens of Nepal and India, some of them are already in captivity or have died. There are already videos in social networks with Africans as part of the occupation forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
- In addition, as Bloomberg writes, Russia forced thousands of migrants and foreign students to fight against Ukraine, threatening not to extend their visas. Some of them are used as an additional force for the offensive in the Kharkiv region.
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