Overview
- Jagdeep Kumar returned from two trips to Russia and handed documents he says came from the Russian army to MP Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, asserting 10 Indians are dead and four are missing after being recruited.
- Indian authorities have not independently verified these specific deaths, though New Delhi previously demanded Moscow end recruitment of Indian nationals and warned citizens against joining the Russian military.
- Seechewal is urging the Centre to secure repatriation of the deceased and to curb the funneling of Indian citizens into Russian service, calling for action against complicit travel agents.
- Jagdeep alleges agents lured jobseekers to Russia where some were detained, pressured or coerced into enlistment with minimal training before deployment; he says he was briefly detained and pressed to join while searching for his brother.
- Families named several of the purported dead from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, and Jagdeep says some bodies are held in Rostov-on-Don, while earlier official figures noted 98 had returned from Russian service, 13 remained, and 14 were listed as missing.