44 Indians now serving in Russian army, MEA urges Moscow to release them

India on Friday said that 44 Indian nationals are currently serving in the Russian Army, following a rise in recruitment over the past few months.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it has raised the issue with Russian authorities and urged them to immediately halt the recruitment of Indian citizens into the Russian military.

India has consistently urged Russia to release all Indian nationals working as support staff including cooks and helpers with its military units. The matter was also brought up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Russia last year.

“In the last few months, we have been informed of several Indian nationals who have been recruited in the Russian army,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

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“As per our understanding, there are 44 Indian nationals presently serving in the Russian Army,” he said at his weekly media briefing. Indian officials in September had said there were 27 Indians serving in the Russian Army.

Jaiswal said India has taken up the matter with Russian authorities and urged them to release the Indians at the “earliest and also to put an end to this practice”.“We are in touch with the Russian side. We are also in touch with the families of these people and giving them an update on the matter,” he said.

There have been reports that some Indians on student and business visas were forced into joining Russian military units deployed on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine.

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With inputs from agencies