Tricked into fighting for Russia, Indians who survive scarred for life

They tell of being duped by agents in India who promised non-combatant jobs

- Rohini Mohan

BENGALURU-The horrors of a war he did not choose and the deaths he saw up close have broken Mr Jain T.K, an Indian citizen who once believed that his fortune lay beyond his country's shores.

"I want to return home somehow. I am tired. It's been too long," the 27-year-old told The Sunday Times in a video call on Jan 29, before shutting his eyes in pain as he lay half-paralysed on a hospital bed in Moscow.

The mechanical diploma holder from Wadakkanchery, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is one of more than 100 Indians known to have been recruited into the Russian army to fight in Ukraine, a war zone that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and injured even more since 2022.

Mr Jain travelled to Russia in April 2024 for what he thought was a job as an electrician in the Russian army, after paying a recruiter in Kerala around 240,000 rupees (S$3,700).

At first, he and his friend, Mr Binil T.B, 32, were tasked with delivering water and food to Russian combatants. But on Dec 5, they were handed guns and deployed in combat, with commanders issuing orders in the Russian language that they did not understand.

Confused, they simply followed the Russian soldiers, and tried to stay out of harm's way.

"Within days, I saw my friend Binil lying dead on his face. The next day, I was injured in a drone attack," said Mr Jain.

Bleeding profusely from injuries to his left side and stomach that left him unable to walk, Mr Jain dragged himself for 9km in the freezing weather of minus 10 deg C to minus 17 deg C, until he reached a medical camp.

He was subsequently taken to Moscow for further treatment in late December.

Mr Jain can be discharged only after he is able to walk and the Indian embassy in Russia issues him an emergency passport. His original passport was confiscated not long after he arrived in the country.