New Delhi: The Russian government says it has offered compensation to the families of Indian nationals killed at war as per “contractual obligations”, said Roman Babushkin, the Charge d’Affaires at the Russian Embassy in New Delhi Wednesday.
However, Babushkin did not provide a rough deadline on when Indians stuck at the war front would be discharged. This issue was discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the former’s recent visit to Moscow. The Russian side offered assurances to repatriate Indians stuck the war zone with immediate effect.
There are an estimated 35-50 Indian nationals stuck on the Russia-Ukraine battlefield who say they were duped into fighting in the Russian Army. Four Indians have died on the war front so far, and India has demanded a halt to further recruitment of Indians into the Russian Army.
“[Compensation to the families] should have happened, according to the contractual obligations which envisage such kinds of things. There should be no doubt about that. It should not be a sensation of news that compensation should go into the proper hands,” Babushkin said at a press conference.
It is unclear if the families of the deceased were offered Russian citizenship.
“I don’t know if the people who you are referring to are claiming citizenship. But there were some number of foreign fighters who voluntarily came because there was a provision that facilitated Russian citizenship. Those who wanted them, had to comply with the conditions…,” he said.
Speaking to ThePrint, the wife of Tejpal Singh, who died on the war front, said she would be taking up permanent residence in Russia as per her husband’s contract.
The families of two Kashmiri men currently in the conflict had told ThePrint that they were deceived by a Dubai-based consultant who promised job opportunities through a YouTube channel, ‘Baba Vlogs’. The channel has since been taken down. The families say the two men were forced to sign documents written in Russian.
Diplomatic sources had earlier told ThePrint that this issue could have links to potential human trafficking, and therefore, identifying which Indian nationals are in the Russian Army will be a task in itself.
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‘Fighting for commercial reasons’
While speaking to reporters, Babushkin underscored that Russia never wanted fighters from India and that those who travelled to Moscow to join the war effort did so for “commercial reasons”.
“We don’t lack soldiers. There are so many volunteers in Russia itself, so foreigners are not required. Those people who are going there are for purely commercial reasons in order to earn money, advantages and benefits, including facilitation of Russian citizenship,” he said.
“We have seen the list of those who want to be discharged. They are there on an illegal basis. Most of them have student, tourist and business visas which don’t allow them to go for contractual obligations.”
He added that both India and Russia should investigate agents involved in criminal activities who have duped such Indians and attracted them to the war zones.
ThePrint spoke to an Indian currently fighting in the conflict who said that the process of discharge was underway and that those who want to return to India would first be transferred to a safe zone.
“After Modi came to Russia, he spoke to Putin who agreed to discharge us. We have been told that soon we will be transferred to a safe zone, then there will be document work, and then all Indians that want to leave will leave,” the Indian male, who requested to be quoted anonymously, told ThePrint over WhatsApp.
He confirmed that under the contract, he is eligible for Russian citizenship but has no desire to apply for it.
(Inputs from Shubhangi Misra)
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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