NEW DELHI: A second Indian national has died in Russia, allegedly working for the Wagner Army. The deceased has been identified as Mohammed Asfan.
"We have learnt of the tragic death of an Indian national, Mohammed Asfan and are in touch with the family and Russian authorities. The Indian mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India,’’ according to the Indian Embassy in Moscow.
It may be recalled that on February 21st a 23-year old Gujarati was killed by a drone attack on the Russia-Ukraine border in Donetsk.
India had earlier formally acknowledged that some Indians had signed up for support jobs in Russian army.
The Russian Army has reportedly recruited some Indians (number given by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is 20 based on the Indians who reached out to the mission in Moscow. Whereas other reports suggested the number to be higher. These Indian youth were recruited as security helpers over the past one year, some had alleged mistreatment.
About ten days back 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 MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal.
Meanwhile, India has urged its nationals to exercise due caution and stay away from this conflict.
Reportedly, 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 army earlier controlled by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, close ally of Russias President Putin. These troops have infrastructure support by Russian army and troops are sent to fight in conflicts – like the ongoing one between Russia and Ukraine.
