The Indian embassy in Moscow announced on Wednesday the death of one of its citizens who had been recruited by the Russian army, a few days after one of his relatives told AFP that he had been sent to fight in Ukraine.
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Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, tens of thousands of troops have been killed and Moscow is seeking to conscript soldiers from around the world.
The death of Mohammed Asfan is the first to be confirmed by Indian authorities among Indian citizens enlisted by Moscow for the needs of the Russian army.
The embassy did not specify the circumstances of Mohammed Asfan’s death but said it was in contact with his family and the Russian authorities.
“The mission will endeavor to send his remains to India,” the embassy wrote on the social network X on Wednesday evening.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at the end of February that it was seeking to have around twenty of its citizens, “stuck” in the Russian army, freed from their obligations.
At the end of February, Mohammed Asfan’s brother, Mohammed Imran, told AFP that his brother had been missing for almost two months.
The last time he called was from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and he said he had been sent to the front line, Imran said. .
The latter specified that another Indian soldier, who had managed to escape, had told his family that Mohammed Asfan, aged 30, had been injured by a bullet.
Another Indian, aged 23, from the state of Gujarat, was killed in a Ukrainian airstrike while working as a “security guard”, local media reported last February, citing sources. relatives and another Indian soldier on the front line.
Indian soldiers told AFP in February that they had agreed to enlist in exchange for attractive salaries and a Russian passport.
They also said they were promised they would not fight, but were trained in the use of Kalashnikovs and other weapons before being sent to Ukraine.