New Delhi: India on Friday announced that 16 Indians serving in the Russian Army have been categorised by Russian authorities as “missing” and their whereabouts are not known. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the MEA is in touch with the families of these Indians.
He said that of the 126 Indians who had been recruited in the Russian Army, 96 have returned to India so far while 12 died in the (Russia-Ukraine) conflict while adding that of the 18 Indians still found to be serving in the Russian Army, 16 had been declared as “missing” by the Russian authorities.
On the recent incident of an Indian from Kerala Binil Babu being killed in the battlefront, the spokesperson said New Delhi is working to bring back the mortal remains at the earliest. Another Indian — identified by media as J. Kurien — has been injured and is receiving treatment in Moscow, the spokesperson said, adding that he hopes the injured Indian will also be able to return soon to India.
It may be recalled that that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken up the matter of Indians being duped into working in the Russian Army with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow in July last year. In September last year, external affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar had told Parliament that Russian President had personally assured Modi in July that all such Indians would be discharged and released from the Russian Army, adding that “in many cases”, the Indian nationals had been “misled” into joining the Russian Army.