CHANDIGARH: Young men from Punjab, Haryana and Jammu who were caught in the crossfire of Russia-Ukraine war have sent an SOS pleading to rescue them at the earliest.
In video messages shared by these youths, they could be seen dressed in Russian military uniforms and pleading for urgent intervention by the Indian government to rescue them.
"We are being grossly mistreated. We're being sent to the frontline daily and we're starving," said one Samarjeet Singh from Ludhiana.
Another youth Buta Singh, claimed some among them had already died in the war. He added that they were promised work in Moscow but recruited in the Russian army. "The situation is dire, get us out immediately,” he pleaded.
Echoing the same view, Sumeet Sharma from Jammu said that they have been deceived by travel agents.
23-year-old Ankit Jangra from Kumharia village in Fatehabad district said that he and 12 others from India are now trapped in Russia.
Vijay Poonia of the same village is also trapped with Ankit and fighting for the Russian army.
Both Ankit and Vijay had gone to Russia on student visas to study the Russian language.
Lamenting lack of effective action from the Indian government, Jagdeep Singh, whose brother Mandeep is among the missing said,`` Since July this year, these new recruitments have taken place, and the stranded youths have been making frantic calls to the Indian embassy in Russia, but there has been little response."
Family members of these youth allege that compensation for youths killed in the war or pensions for injured ones are being siphoned off by the agents.
Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment Pargat Singh, who brought these family members to Chandigarh to press for action, criticized both the Centre and the state government for failing to identify arrest the travel agents.
``The continuous inaction of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Moscow constitutes a breach of duty and dereliction of responsibility. As government agencies persist in issuing ineffective advisories, our youths are dying on foreign battlefields while families are left unsupported, uninformed, and denied even the dignity of adequate investigation or compensation,” he said.
Singh claimed that in July this year 15 Punjabi youths were taken to Russia under false job promises. By August, five were dead, three missing, and seven were forcibly conscripted.
"At least126 youths from across north India remain trapped in Russia and about 15 are missing," he said.
“These are not isolated cases of fraud this is a coordinated, large-scale operation that the Indian system has utterly failed to acknowledge or combat. The Punjab Government’s ongoing delay in prosecuting the agents – whose criminal exploitation even robs families of death benefits and insurance payouts – is inexcusable and unacceptable,” he further added.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal meanwhile emphasized that India has repeatedly raised the issue with Moscow and urged families to maintain close contact with the authorities. “We have seen reports about Indian nationals having been recruited recently into the Russian Army. The government has, on several occasions over the past year, underlined the risks and dangers inherent in this course of action and cautioned Indian citizens accordingly. We have also taken up the matter with Russian officials, both in Delhi and Moscow, demanding an end to this practice and the release of our nationals. We are also in touch with the families of the affected Indian citizens.’’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also raised the issue during his visit to Russia last year.