Russia no longer admits Indians into its Army, the Russian Embassy disclosed in a statement, adding that Russian and Indian authorities are in “close coordination” to help discharge Indian nationals recruited for the war in Ukraine.
In the first such official acceptance that Russia is working with Indian officials on releasing the Indian recruits who want to withdraw from their contracts, the Russian Embassy in Delhi issued a press statement where it condoled the “unfortunate instances of [Indian] casualties in the course of the special military operation in Ukraine”.
“The agencies concerned in both countries work in close coordination for early identification and discharge of Indian nationals who voluntarily contracted for military service in Russia,” the Russian Embassy statement said, adding that since April 2024, the Russian Defence Ministry had stopped taking in citizens from a “number of foreign countries including India” into its military service.
“All contractual obligations and due compensation payments will be fulfilled in full measure,” the statement added.
In Parliament on Friday (August 9, 2024), External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said that of the 91 Indians who had gone to Russia that India knows about, 8 have been killed, 14 have been discharged, and 69 remain in Russia.
Responding to questions from AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi about the delay in Russia’s response Mr. Jaishankar said that the Indian government could not “jump the gun” and would hold the Russian government to its word.
The issue of discharging the Indians from the military in Russia had been raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on July 9. While officials said Mr. Putin had assured he would order their discharge, there had been no formal acceptance from the Russian government thus far.
While confirming its intention to discharge Indian recruits, the Embassy denied reports that the Russian government had carried out mass recruitment programmes to lure any recruits fraudulently, stressing that all recruitments were on a voluntary basis.
“The Embassy outlines that the Russian government has at no point of time been engaged in any public or obscure campaigns, more so in fraudulent schemes to recruit the Indian nationals for military service in Russia,” its statement said.
To a specific question from Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Adoor Prakash, Mr. Jaishankar had said that the total number of Indian nationals in various armed forces abroad presently was not known. The issue of the Russian recruits had come to light as some of those at the Russia-Ukraine warfront had contacted the Indian Embassy in Moscow, requesting help with their discharge and saying they had been lured with false promises into joining the Russian army. The Hindu had first reported the plight of the men and concerns of their families in India after the death of two men in February 2024.
