By Sakshi Dayal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Relatives of an Indian man who died in Russia have said he was killed after being forced to fight in the war against Ukraine, and are petitioning the government to bring his body back to his village in the northern Haryana state.
Several men and their families have contacted India’s foreign ministry over the last few months saying they were duped into travelling to Russia with the promise of jobs or education only to be forcibly recruited into its army, officials at the ministry said.
At least four other people have been killed in the violence, they say.
Ravi Moun, 21, travelled to Russia in January after being contacted by an agent who promised him a job in the transport sector, his relatives told Reuters.
Once there, however, he was forced to fight in the war.
Moun’s family last spoke to him on March 12 and had been trying to contact the government for help in tracking him down ever since, they said.
“If he (Moun) knew he would have to fight, he would not have gone…why would he go where death could be waiting?” said Sonu Mator, his cousin, adding that the family needed the government’s help to bring back the body.
“We do not have the money to arrange for it ourselves,” Mator said.
A letter from the Indian Embassy in Moscow last week informed Moun’s relatives of his death without elaborating on the circumstances under which he died, according to The Indian Express newspaper.
“The Russian side had confirmed the death,” wrote Gloria Dung Dung, the second secretary at the embassy, the newspaper reported.
Officials from India’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment.
Moun’s death comes days after Russia promised New Delhi that Indians duped into joining its army would be discharged.
The Russian Embassy in India has also said that Russia is committed to finding the “earliest possible solution”.
India has arrested at least four people associated with the racket.
The South Asian nation has refused to condemn Russia’s war with Ukraine and instead called for peace through dialogue and diplomacy.
Sri Lanka and Nepal have also said that some of their citizens have been illegally recruited.
(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
