 "Ukrainian army has released a video claiming that an Indian, identified as Majoti Sahil Mohamed Hussein, a student from Gujarat's Morbi, surrendered to them after fighting for the Russian army at the frontlines. Image Courtesy: Telegram")
It’s been over three years of the Russia-Ukraine war and there’s no signs of it abating. Notably, many foreign soldiers have entered the battle, fighting on either sides. And now, it has been reported that an Indian, fighting alongside the Russian military, has surrendered to Ukraine. More importantly, his surrender to the Ukrainian troops comes just after three days on the battlefield.
Responding to the reports, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said that they are ascertaining the veracity of the claim, as no official communication has been received from the Ukrainian side.
But what have we learnt about the reported Indian? Who is he? How did he land up in the war? Here’s all that we could find.
From India’s Gujarat to Russia’s frontline
On Tuesday, the 63rd Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian military released a video on their Telegram channel showing an Indian who surrendered to them on the battlefield.
The video shows the Indian identifying himself as 22-year-old Majoti Sahil Mohamed Hussein, adding that he hails from Gujarat’s Morbi. In the video, Hussein states that he had gone to Russia to study when he was he was sentenced to seven years in a Russian prison on drug-related charges.
He was then offered the opportunity to swap out his punishment for service in the Russian military. “I didn’t want to stay in prison, so I signed a contract for the special military operation (Russia’s term for its invasion of Ukraine). But I wanted to get out of there,” he says in the video.
After just 16 days of training, which involved only the basics such as shooting a rifle and throwing grenades, Hussein was sent on his first combat mission on October 1 where he spent three days.
After a conflict with his commander, he surrendered to Ukrainian troops of the 63rd Mechanised Brigade, he adds.
“I came across a Ukrainian trench position about two-three kilometres away,” he says. “I immediately put down my rifle and said that I didn’t want to fight. I needed help… I don’t want to go back to Russia. There is no truth there, nothing. I’d rather go to prison here (in Ukraine),” he further stated.
Hussein also claims that he was promised financial compensation for joining the Russian army, but he never received it. As per a report in Euromaidan Press, Hussein was reportedly offered 100,000 roubles, then half a million and finally 1.5 million roubles. But he never received any cash.
India Speaks
Responding to the Ukrainian media reports, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said that it is currently verifying these claims. The Indian mission in Kyiv is ascertaining the veracity of the report. It has not yet received any formal communication from the Ukrainian side in this regard.
Case of Indians in Russian army
It’s important to note that this is the first known instance of an Indian citizen being taken into Ukrainian custody.
During this war between Russia and Ukraine, several Indian nationals have been recruited into the Russian army on contract and even been killed on the frontline. Many of the Indians, who fought for Russia and later returned to India, report that they were coerced , or misled into serving with Russian forces.
Earlier, in February, the Indian government told Parliament that they were aware of 127 Indians in the Russian army since the beginning of the war. Of those, 12 had died, 18 were missing and the rest had returned after being released from the Russian military.
Later, in September, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “Recently, we learnt that some additional Indian citizens have been recruited into the Russian military — this information came to us through their family members. We have taken up the matter vigorously with our mission in Russia and with the authorities in Moscow, urging that our nationals be released and brought back at the earliest. There are roughly 27 Indians involved who were recently enrolled in the Russian forces, and we are working to get them out.”
Indian officials have repeatedly urged Russia not to recruit Indians into the military. Notably, the issue has also been raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on different occasions. PM Modi raised the issue of Indians recruited in the Russian army during his visit to Russia last July for a bilateral meet with President Vladimir Putin.
At Putin’s country home in Moscow, Modi spoke of the issue very strongly, following which he secured a promise that all such persons would be sent back speedily. “The prime minister raised this issue very strongly, that we should try and get all Indian nationals back to India as early as possible,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said later, adding, “There was a sense of a promise from the Russian side on that. Now, the two systems will work on it and see how exactly and expeditiously we can get them back to the country.”
Then last October, at the Brics summit in Russia’s Kazan, the Indian leader once again raised the matter with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
At the time, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “An important issue that came up was the issue of early discharge of the remaining Indian nationals in the Russian army. This figured from both sides in the discussion and with the support of the Russian side, a number of Indian nationals have, in recent months, been able to return to India. We understand that currently the embassy is pursuing around 20 cases with the Russian side and we very much hope that all of these individuals can be released at an early date and be repatriated to India very soon.”
With inputs from agencies