Flew to Russia for New Year celebrations, ended up on battlefield: Seven trapped Indians appeal to Centre for help
NDTV, the person speaking in the video is Gagandeep Singh. He says that they had left for Russia on December 27. They had a valid visa to stay in the country for 90 days.
But later they travelled to the neighbouring Belarus. Singh said that the agent, who took them to Belarus, abandoned them upon reaching there. They were then arrested by the police and handed over to Russian authorities.
"Now, they are forcing us to fight in the war against Ukraine," he says in the video. Recently, the Indian government said that it was aware that around 20 Indians are "stuck" in the Russian Army. "We are trying our level best for early discharge.
We are in regular touch with Russian authorities both here in Delhi and in Moscow," foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said. News agency AFP reported that it has spoken to several such Indians. "The soldiers who spoke with AFP said they had been promised non-combatant roles but were trained to use Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons before being sent to Ukraine," it said in a report.
Moreover, on Tuesday, Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his country has strengthened its military forces in the north and west to counter what Moscow perceives as a build-up of NATO forces near Russia. "Against the background of a build-up of NATO's military potential near the Russian borders, the expansion of the alliance through the accession of Finland and, in the future, Sweden, we have taken steps to strengthen the groupings of troops in the north-western and western strategic directions," Shoigu said. It is still unclear where the seven men in the viral video are posted.
Read more on livemint.com
