Bring them home, say kin of 2 Kashmiri men stuck in Russia after falling for job scam

J&K Students Association, on behalf of families of Azad Yousuf Kumar & Zahoor Ahmad Sheikh, has asked Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to raise the issue in ongoing Parliament session.

Azad Yousuf Kumar | Photo by special arrangement, illustration by Prajna Ghosh/ThePrint

New Delhi: The families of two Kashmiri men, among several Indian nationals trapped in Russia and forced into the warfront with Ukraine after enrolling in a fraudulent recruitment scheme, have urged the Narendra Modi government to facilitate their speedy return.

Speaking to ThePrint, their family members said no concrete steps have been taken to address the plight of the men as yet.

The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association has written on the families’ behalf to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, asking him to raise the issue in the ongoing Parliament session.

The brother of 29-year-old Azad Yousuf Kumar, who comes from the Pulwama district of Kashmir, told ThePrint that Azad was deceived by a Dubai-based consultant who promised job opportunities through a YouTube channel called “Baba Vlogs”. The channel has since been taken down.

Azad travelled from Mumbai to Sharjah, said his brother, and then to Moscow, where he was forced to sign documents written in Russian.

“He was handed over to the Russian Army after that. Azad was shot in the leg earlier in February and was given medical treatment. He is trapped in a very dangerous country. There is drone warfare there. The Indian government should not delay his return anymore,” said Azad’s brother, Sajad Ahmad Kumar.

Four Indian nationals recruited under fraudulent schemes have died in the Russia-Ukraine war so far, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The MEA has maintained that it is “pressing hard with Russia” for early discharge of Indians duped into fighting in Ukraine. India has also demanded a halt to any further recruitment of Indian nationals by the Russian Army.

“Such activities would not be in consonance with our partnership,” read a sternly worded statement from the MEA last month.

Not just Indians, people from other Southeast Asian countries have also lost their lives in the Russia-Ukraine war after falling for a job scam.

At least 25 Nepalis have died fighting for the Russian army so far, according to Nepali Times, creating fear among the kin of Indian nationals who are yet to receive clarity on the whereabouts of their family members.

‘No contact for six months’

Zahoor Ahmad Sheikh, 35, a resident of Kupwara in Kashmir, also went missing in Russia after travelling there last December with his companions from Uttar Pradesh and Hyderabad.

One of his family members, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint: “He is a bright man with a B.Sc degree in agricultural science. He was tricked into this (fraudulent recruitment) scheme and forced to join the Russian Army.”

“For the last six months, we have not been able to get in touch with him. His WhatsApp and phone are unreachable. The Indian embassy in Moscow is also not giving us a clear answer about his whereabouts,” the family member added.

Last week, family members of Indians trapped in Russia protested in front of the MEA in South Block, New Delhi, and sources said they held a brief meeting with Additional Secretary (Eurasia) Charanjeet Singh.

Diplomatic sources had earlier told ThePrint that the Russian and Indian foreign ministries have been in regular communication to discuss ways to return the Indian nationals and that in 45-50 days, a plan of action would take form.

Sources also added 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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also visit Russia in the coming days, as his first official state visit after starting his third term.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)