Overview

• The Ministry of External Affairs issued a renewed advisory telling Indians to avoid offers to join the Russian military, calling such recruitment fraught with danger.
• Officials said the issue has been raised with Russian authorities in both New Delhi and Moscow with a demand to end the practice and release affected nationals.
• Recent reports and videos describe 9 to 15 Indians saying they were lured to Russia on student or visitor visas with promises of construction jobs and then sent toward frontline duty in Ukraine.
• Parliament was told in July that 127 Indians had been recruited into the Russian armed forces, with 98 discharged after engagement by New Delhi and 13 still in service, including 12 reported missing by Russia.
• Russia’s embassy previously said it stopped admitting Indian citizens into its military in 2024, yet unresolved cases and new victim accounts have triggered renewed warnings and consular outreach to families.