Karnataka men duped into joining Russia war in job scam, MEA help sought

Russian soldiers line up during an opening ceremony of the memorial to Russian service members killed during Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Yevpatoriya, Crimea.

The Karnataka state government has written to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urging the rescue of three persons who have been allegedly forced to fight in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

State minister Priyank Kharge said that he has urged the entre to urgently address the issue and come to young men’s rescue as soon as possible, news agency PTI reported.

As per the reports, three men from Karnataka’s Kalburgi district and one man from Telangana were allegedly trapped in a job fraud case when their recruiters offered the position of army security helpers and sent them to Russia amid war. Now, these young men are being stranded on the Russia-Ukraine border forcibly fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine against their will.

According to reports, not only were the men duped in terms of the job that they were signing up for, but the agent who sent them to Russia also managed to extract ₹ 3 lakh from each of them.

“There is information that it (such job fraud) has happened in several places — Telangana, Karnataka, also several places in north India. Whatever it is, taking someone to war by cheating or through fraudulent means (is wrong). The Central government has to take this seriously and should come to their rescue immediately,” he added.

Priyank further said that he has also requested his father and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to raise the issue with external affairs minister S Jaishankar.

One of the trapped victim, Hyderabad’s Mohammad Sufiyan’s family has urged the central government as well as the Ministry of External Affairs to safely evacuate the youths trapped in Russia and also take strict action against the agents.

Imran, the brother of Sufiyan, told news agency ANI about all the events that happened.

“My brother was taken by Baba Blocks Company, which has offices in Dubai, Delhi, and Mumbai. The first batch went out on November 12, 2023. A total of 21 youths were sent and ₹3 lakh was taken from each one of them. They were made to sign an agreement in Russia on November 13,” he said.

He said that the agents told the youth that they would get the job as army helpers, but were eventually drafted into the army and were deployed inside the Ukrainian borders.

“The agents gave the wrong translations of the documents to them. They were told that it is the job of army helpers. But, two days later, they were taken for military training. Even when the youths protested, the Indian agents again misguided them, saying that it was only part of the training and they wouldn’t be sent to the frontlines,” Imran said.

“After it came to our notice that they have been recruited into the Wagner Group (a private military allegedly funded by the Russian government) for war with Ukraine, our Deputy Commissioner (Kalaburagi) as per protocol has written a letter to the Central government’s External Affairs Ministry representative here in Bengaluru,” PTI quoted Priyank as saying.

Priyank’s request came days after AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi pointed out the issue and urged the Centre to talk with the Russian government and bring back the youths.

“The Narendra Modi government should hold talks with the Russian government and bring back the 12 youths trapped in the Russia-Ukraine war,” AIMIM posted on X.

He has written to Jaishankar and sought his help in getting the young men back to India.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)

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