'Forced to go to battlefield': 3 Karnataka men tell who duped them into fighting in Russia-Ukraine war

In December last year, three Indian men in their early 20s were convinced by agents into working for the Russian army as security guards with a monthly salary of Rs 70,000 and upon reaching there, they realised they were tricked. Stuck on Russian soil for about nine months, they finally returned to India last week with the help of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The three men - Syed Ilyas Hussaini, Mohammed Sameer Ahmed, and Suqain Mohammed - residents of Karnataka’s Kalaburagi were struggling to be back in India. They also revealed that over 70 Indians are still stuck in war-hit areas for the Russian army.

‘Never thought I would return to India’

“I saw people who became my friends die right in front of my eyes. Every minute I lived in fear for my life and never thought that I would return to India,” a report by The Indian Express quoted 24-year-old Hussaini as saying.

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Hussaini further said that he thought their chances of being alive were reduced the day Hemil Mangukiya from Surat in Gujarat was killed in a drone attack.

Hussaini said Mangukiya was his friend and roommate. “I was there digging the trench and he was standing on the ground when the drone killed him. That was the moment I thought I would die there,” he added.  

Hussaini too was promised a salary of Rs 70,000 every month for a security guard role but instead of getting around Rs 5 lakh for staying in Russia for about nine months, he got just Rs 80,000 in total.  

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Hussaini didn’t care to ask for the rest of his money as he said for him, his life was much more precious.

How were 3 men from Karnataka duped to work in Russia?

Hussaini went on to recall that on December 19, 2023, he landed in Moscow and over there an Indian man named Moin Khan picked him and others and took them to his room.

“After two days, a few people from the Russian army came in plain clothes and took us to another hotel. We were given new SIM and ATM cards and taken to an office. We were asked to sign a document in the Russian language. I tried to use an app to translate but was not allowed. I asked my agent but he said that it was all ‘setting’ and asked me to sign,” Hussaini was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Passports & documents taken away

They were then taken 400 km away from Moscow where their passports and other documents were taken away, the report quoted Mohammed Sameer Ahmed as saying. After this, they were given the uniforms of the Russian army.

Mobile phones were confiscated

Ahmed further said that they were then put into a flight and flown to the Ukraine border. Over there, they were for a month and during this time, their mobile phones were confiscated.  

Trained to use weapons

“We were trained to use weapons like grenades, snipers, and short-range shooting. In January, we could not contact our family members as well,” the report quoted Ahmed as saying.

Worked over 14 hours a day

After the training was over, in February, all three of them were sent to the war zone where they worked more than 14 hours a day. “We lived in forests. We were left to dig trenches and create bunkers. We were given weapons,” Ahmed recalled.

Pleaded for help

“We got our mobile phones there and I called my father and the Embassy pleading with them to help,” Ahmed further said.

Used to sleep in minus 3 degrees

Hussaini, meanwhile, said they were forced to go to the battlefield despite refusing every day. “Every minute we held our lives in the forests. We used to dig trenches and used to sleep inside it. There were times when we used to sleep in minus 3 degrees,” he further said.

During his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on July 9, “very strongly” raised the issue of Indians recruited into the Russian Army and sent to the frontlines of the war in Ukraine. Following the meeting, Russia decided to discharge all Indians working in the Russian army.  

Putin had then dialed his commanding officer and said that all Indians must be relieved from service and should be sent back to the headquarters.  

“Then, we were sent to Moscow and then took a flight to Delhi. I get shivers even when I think about how I survived,” Hussaini recalled.