From Telangana, Mohammed Afsan (30) of Hyderabad and Mohammed Sufiyan (23) of Narayanpet district went to Moscow in November and December respectively. “They were duped. The agent who recruited them said they would work in Moscow only; instead, they were given 15-day training and dropped in Ukraine, where they are being forced to stay alongside Russian troops fighting the war,” mentioned Afsan’s brother Mohammed Imran.

Afsan was working as a salesman at a garments showroom when he stumbled on the job alternative in Moscow. “He, like the other youths, was promised a salary of Rs 45,000 per month for the initial three months, which would gradually increase to Rs 1.5 lakh. After working for a year, he could apply for Russian passport and citizenship. It was a lucrative offer and unfortunately they fell for it. Afsan left for Moscow on November 9,” Imran mentioned.

Afsan’s final video name from the Russia-Ukraine border was on December 31. “After that, there has been no contact with him; we recently discovered he has injured his leg. We request the Centre to intervene and arrange for their evacuation,” he mentioned.

Men in fatigues: Mohammed Sufiyan from Narayanpet, Telangana (left) and Mohammed Samir Ahmed from Gulbarga (proper).

Sufiyan was working at a packing firm in Dubai, incomes Rs 30,000 per thirty days. “He came in contact with an agent named Faisal Khan, who runs a YouTube channel, and was brainwashed into applying for this job in Moscow, saying he would never earn more,” mentioned Saiyed Salman, Sufiyan’s brother.

“He was told the job was as a helper in a Russian government office. He was promised over Rs 1 lakh per month and citizenship after one year. He paid Rs 1.5 lakh as commission to the agent and came to India. The agent arranged flight tickets and Sufiyan left on December 17,” Salman mentioned.

Faisal Khan, and his YouTube channel Baba Vlogs, discovered a point out within the testimonies of different households too.

In video calls to his brother, Sufiyan mentioned that he together with different youths from India have been taken to a navy camp and, after three days, despatched for coaching. “At the camp, they saw other Indians who had returned from the frontlines. They had shrapnel injuries, broken limbs, and Sufiyan came to know that he and the others undergoing basic training would also be sent to the frontlines. On February 27, Sufiyan was almost killed in a drone strike. A youth from Gujarat (Hemil Mangukiya) was killed along with several Russian soldiers. Sufiyan called us on January 29 to narrate the ordeal. He was traumatised seeing death up close, and desperate to return to India. That was his last call and his phone has been unreachable ever since, so we assume he is on frontlines again,” Salman, an autorickshaw driver, mentioned.

Both households have been unaware if the lads had even been paid.

The three from Karnataka’s Gulbarga have been recognized as Mohammed Samir Ahmed, 23, Saiyed Iliyas Hussaini, 22, and Abdul Nayeem, 23. All of them have been working alongside Sufiyan within the Dubai firm.

Samir Ahmed’s elder brother Mustafa mentioned the agent explicitly promised that the job was in Moscow. “He even allayed concerns that they may be sent to the war, but after reaching there, the men found that they would be helping Russian troops in the field. Samir called four-five days ago and was extremely scared. He pleaded with me to approach the authorities here to evacuate him safely,” mentioned Mustafa.

“I am even more traumatised because the youth from Gujarat, Hemil, had called me just two days before he died in a drone strike. They (the others from India) loaded his body in the back of a truck… The Centre should do whatever it can to rescue all of them. We don’t want the money, just bring them back,” he mentioned.

Man holding a photograph: Mohammed Imran with a photograph of his brother Afsan. (Express Photo)

Surat resident Hemil Mangukiya, 23, died on February 21. Like the opposite youths, his journey to the warzone began through a YouTube video on the Baba Vlogs channel. According to his household, he was “put on duty from December 24”. “Their work was to dig mud and make bunkers for a couple of hours in a day and later supply arms and ammunition to the Russian soldiers on the frontlines. They were also trained in using machine guns and other arms. Hemil was made to undergo one-month training in a camp.”

In south Kashmir’s Awantipora, Aazad Yousuf Kumar, 32, had been eager to maneuver out as his household work – of digging borewells – didn’t fetch sufficient returns. In search of one thing extra profitable, Kumar would typically scan his cellphone for job alternatives exterior the state.

It was throughout one such search that he got here throughout a YouTube channel promising jobs in Dubai. “Digging borewells is an irregular source of income. He got married three years ago and wanted a better job,” mentioned Kumar’s brother Sajad Ahmad.

Ahmad, too, mentioned the YouTube channel was run by Dubai-based Faisal Khan. “My brother was told that he would have to clean rooms and work in the kitchen in Dubai and would earn well.”

The YouTube channel typically advertises jobs within the Gulf. In one video, Faisal Khan says he has studied solely till class VI and earns Rs 80,000 a month.

Per week after the delivery of his baby, Kumar left for Mumbai on directions from his “recruiters”. “From Mumbai, he was taken to Chennai. But once he left Chennai, we lost contact with him,” mentioned his brother.

In January, Ahmad obtained a WhatsApp name from an unknown quantity. When he answered, it was his brother. “He told me that when they reached Dubai, they were asked to sign a contract for a job in Russia. Azad told me he thought it was a cleaning job in Moscow. But when they reached Russia, they were directly sent to a training centre,” Ahmad mentioned. “He said he received a gunshot wound in the foot at the training centre and was admitted to a hospital, while 11 others with him were sent to the frontlines. He was calling from the number of a Russian citizen.”

Ahmad mentioned that since then, Kumar has despatched him occasional messages. “He told me he is now at the border with Ukraine. He said they have been divided into six groups of two each and each group has been assigned to a unit.”

Ahmad mentioned his brother fell prey to a “big gang that is luring desperate job seekers to Dubai and then sending them to Russia to fight against Ukraine”.

Gurpreet Singh, 23, from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur is one other youth pleading for assist to flee the warfare. While the way in which he landed up there’s completely different, he too fell prey to a lie. An avid traveller who has been to a number of overseas international locations on low-budget backpacking journeys, he determined to go to St Petersburg to attend a New Year’s pageant. According to his cousin Sandhu, he left on December 27 and stayed in Moscow for just a few days earlier than continuing to St Petersburg. After attending the pageant, he employed a cab and went to Belarus, pondering his Russian visa was legitimate there. He was detained and the Belarus Army handed him over to Russian Army personnel on the border.

“The Russian personnel told Gurpreet he had broken the country’s laws by illegally entering Belarus, and threatened to jail him for 10 years. They seized his phone and other belongings and kept him confined. After he pleaded for several hours, the Russian troops connected him on the phone with a translator, who explained to him that instead of rotting in jail, he should join the Russian army as a helper. He was promised Rs 1 lakh salary and told that he would live and work in Moscow, but after two days, he was sent for training and is now at the frontlines. With bombs falling everywhere, he and the others are scared for their lives,” Sandhu mentioned.

Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs mentioned India is making an attempt its finest for an “early discharge” of round 20 Indian nationals working as help workers to the Russian military.

“It is our understanding that there are 20-odd people (Indians) who have gone there to work as support staff or as helpers with the Russian army,” MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal mentioned. “We are trying our level best for their early discharge.”