NEW DELHI: India has denied claims that it was not coming to the assistance of Indians who has been signed up by the Russian army.
"We have seen some inaccurate reports in the media regarding Indians with the Russian army seeking help for discharge. Each and every such case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities and those brought to the attention of the Ministry have been taken up with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi. Several Indians have already been discharged as a result," said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
India says that it remains committed and has given top priority to this matter.
"We are pursuing with the Russian authorities all the relevant cases of Indian nationals for an early discharge from the Russian army," Jaiswal added.
Meanwhile, on February 21, two days after India formally acknowledged that some Indians had signed up for support jobs in Russian army, a Gujarati reportedly died in a drone attack in Ukraine.
The 23-year-old from Surat was killed in a drone attack in Donetsk close to the Russia-Ukraine border on February 21.
The Russian Army has reportedly recruited several Indians as security helpers over the past one year. Some of these recruits have alleged mistreatment.
Earlier, the MEA had acknowledged that they are aware of these recruitments.
"We are aware that a few Indian nationals have signed up for support jobs with the Russian Army. The Indian Embassy has regularly taken up this matter with the relevant Russian authorities for their early discharge,” said Jaiswal.
In addition, India has urged its nationals to exercise due caution and stay away from this conflict.
The kin of many of these Indian nationals have said that their family members have been duped by foreign recruiters in Russia and have been forced to join the Wagner Group (a private military company).
The Wagner Group officially known as PMC Wagner is a Russian state-funded militia earlier controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin who was a close ally of President Putin. These troops get infrastructure support from the Russian army and are sent to fight in conflicts like the ongoing one between Russia and Ukraine.
