Overview

• Ukraine’s 63rd Mechanized Brigade released a video of 22-year-old Majoti Sahil Mohamed Hussein from Morbi, Gujarat, saying he surrendered after three days at the front.
• He says he was sentenced to seven years in a Russian prison on drug charges and was offered a military contract as an alternative to serving the term.
• Hussein recounts receiving 16 days of basic training before being sent on a first combat mission on October 1, after which he laid down his weapon and gave himself up.
• He claims he was promised pay and eventual freedom for a year of service but received no money and does not wish to return to Russia.
• India’s Ministry of External Affairs and its embassy in Kyiv are ascertaining the report’s veracity, as official figures show more than 150 Indians recruited into Russian forces, with at least 12 deaths, 96 discharges, and 16 missing and New Delhi urging Moscow to repatriate 27 still serving.