One of the Indians, who was forced by the Russian army to fight the war in Ukraine, was killed in the battle.
The deceased has been identified as Mohammed Afsan, hailing from Hyderabad, reports Malayala Manorama.
A few days ago, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) had said India is doing its best to get an "early discharge" of nearly 20 Indians who are working as support staff to the Russian army.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said these 20 Indians had contacted Indian authorities seeking assistance to come back home.
"We have an understanding that 20-odd people are stuck. We are trying our level best for their early discharge. We have issued two statements which you saw. We have also told people not to venture into the war zone or get caught into situations which are difficult. It. We are in regular touch with Russian authorities both here in New Delhi and also in Moscow," Jaiswal had said.
He had also asked Indian nationals to "exercise due caution and stay away from this conflict."
THE WEEK had recently reported about how several youngsters from Hyderabad were tricked by a company with connections to Russia’s top private military contractor to travel to Russia and are now trapped in the warfront. A network of middlemen and agents were involved in producing fake job invitation letters to funnel the youth to the warfront in Russia. One among them was the deceased, Mohammed Afsan.
How Mohammed Afsan reached the warfront
Afsan, 30, was working in a clothing store in Hyderabad till September. He received an ‘invitation letter’ in Russian sent by an agent for processing his visa. According to the letter, Afsan was employed with a semi-conductor company located in Hyderabad’s IT corridor.
The letter said the purpose of Afsan’s trip to Russia was to “provide IT services”. According to his family, neither did Afsan work for the said company, nor was he an IT professional.
Afsan got his visa allegedly based on the and flew to Russia in late 2023.
