Body of Haryana youth brought back, ‘Russian commander’ told kin he died in ‘Ukrainian strike’

28-year-old Sonu from Hisar’s Madanheri had gone to Moscow on study visa, was lured into joining their army & died in September in a drone attack, says uncle.

Sonu (28) left for Russia on a study visa last year

Gurugram: Days after the body of a 24-year-old from Kaithal was brought back, the mortal remains of another Haryana youngster killed fighting for Russia in the Ukraine war were brought to India on Wednesday—both having died on the same day in the conflict.

Sonu (28) from Madanheri village in Hisar was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on 6 September, his relatives said, citing information from Russian officials. The family doesn’t know where Sonu was deployed.

He was killed the same day another Haryana youngster, Karam Chand from Jandepur village of Kaithal, died fighting in the war. Karam’s body was brought back to his hometown shortly before Sonu’s.

The deaths mark the latest casualties of Indians—many of them from Haryana and Punjab —who went abroad for studies or jobs only to find themselves thrust into the European battleground. Narender Chahal, a former sarpanch of Madanheri and Sonu’s uncle, told ThePrint on Wednesday the youngster’s body had arrived in Delhi.

Chahal said Sonu’s family learnt of the tragedy through a phone call from a “Russian commander” on 19 September, followed by “official correspondence” from Moscow dated 6 October.

The Hisar-based family subsequently approached the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which confirmed Sonu’s death on 26 October and said his body will be brought back to India on Wednesday.

The uncle said Sonu had just completed his graduation and went to Russia on a study visa for a course in Russian language in May last year.

“On 10 August this year, some agents lured him to join the Russian Army by promising him a lucrative job. Once in the army, he was immediately sent to the war front. He last spoke to his mother on 3 September. As per the phone call the family received from the Russian commander on 19 September, Sonu died in a drone attack on 6 September,” Chahal said.

He said Sonu’s death has plunged the family into crisis. “His father had died earlier. He (Sonu) would take care of his mother and mentally challenged sister. His elder brother doesn’t have a stable job and works at a petrol pump,” Chahal said.

MEA joint secretary (Eurasia) Mayank Singh last week confirmed Chand and Sonu’s deaths in a letter to former Hisar MP Brijendra Singh, who had requested the government to expedite efforts to ensure Indians fighting for Russian forces can return home safely. “We have also received information from its Embassy in Moscow about the unfortunate demise of Late Shri Kara Chand and Shri Sonu,” Singh said, adding that Chand’s body was brought to India on 17 October.

Sonu’s body was in Rostov at the time, and will be transported to Moscow before it is brought back to Delhi, the joint secretary had said.

Others still stuck on battlefield

Another 24-year-old from Madanheri, Aman, who had accompanied Sonu to Moscow on a study visa last year, is still stuck on the battlefield, villagers were quoted as saying in media reports on Tuesday.

Four days ago, Sonu’s brother was quoted as saying, Aman’s family received a chilling one-minute video call from the border, where he described constant shelling and soldiers dying daily.

“They recruited Aman and Sonu, saying it was guard duty. Now, it is proving fatal for them,” said Chahal.

Before this, in September, similar distress calls were received by family members of Ankit Jangra and Vijay Punia, two men in their early 20s from Haryana’s Fatehabad district, who said they have been sent to the war zone, their relatives had told media.

Speaking at ‘Off the Cuff’ with ThePrint’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on Tuesday in Gurugram, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov said that a problem Russia now faces is that some Indians still serving in the country’s army have acquired Russian citizenship.

“Some of them have approached the Government of India to help them return, although they are Russian citizens,” he added.

He explained that different provisions exist. “We approached these requests with full understanding and we are in the process of finding a solution, and I am sure we will find a way out of this legal situation,” he said.

Alipov, though, clarified that the Russian Army does not recruit Indians.

“However, if a foreign national comes voluntarily to sign up at the Russian Army, then we have provisions that such a person could take part in combat zones. The PM of India personally requested that we stop recruiting Indian nationals and we have stopped doing that,” Alipov said.

MEA officials had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his July 2024 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, had urged Moscow to halt such recruitments and expedite discharges.

In response to a question in Parliament, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita had said in March that 12 Indian citizens who had joined the Russian armed forces had died in the three-year-long conflict. Sixteen Indians in Russia were missing at the time, he had said.

(Edited by Prerna Madan)