AZAMGARH & MAU: Several youths from Azamgarh and adjoining districts who went to Russia to work as security guards, cooks and for other such jobs were fraudulently sent to fight against Ukraine from the Russian side. While three of the 13 men who left for Russia died on the battlefield, two returned home after being injured in the war. Of the remaining eight, there is no news on their whereabouts so far.
The Indian embassy in Moscow has designated the eight as 'missing', their family members told TOI. On January 14, India reiterated its demand for Russia to repatriate its nationals who were allegedly duped into fighting in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
"I miss him a lot. This was his third foreign trip. Earlier, he had worked for several years in the middle eastern countries. This Russian job offer was considerably better and lucrative, as he was supposed to be a simple watchman that would have fetched him Rs 2 lakh every month. But within a couple of days after landing in Russia, he informed us that he had been deceived by the agents and trapped in a battle zone. He along with others were asked to mandatorily take part in weapons training and then were sent on frontline to fight a war which had nothing to do with my husband or other Indian men," said Anita Devi, wife of Yogendra Yadav.
Hailing from Khwajapur Madho Patti village of Azamgarh, Yogendra has three children, including two daughters and a son. His eldest daughter Muskan Yadav is uncertain about appearing for her class 12 board exams, as her school fee has not been paid for months. The school had given her relief thus far on humanitarian grounds.
Yogendra Yadav along with 12 other men, including Azaruddin Khan, Humeshwar Prasad, Vinod Yadav, Sunil Yadav, Kanhaiya Yadav, Arvind Kumar, Dhirendra Kumar, Deepak, Ramachandra, Shyam Sundar, Rakesh Yadav and Brajesh Kumar Yadav had gone to Russia in separate batches in January and February months of 2024.
Of these, Kanhaiya Yadav, Sunil Yadav & Shyam Sunder died in the battlefield and their bodies were sent back to their native places between September and December of 2024. Rakesh Yadav and Brajesh Yadav came back home with shrapnel injuries in September last year. The whereabouts of the other eight are not known yet.
A local agent, Vinod Yadav, who first convinced these men to work in Russia and enrolled himself as an aspirant later ended up being a victim when he realised on reaching Russian that they had been duped by the agents there.
The job agents of Indian origin, identified as Sumit, Dushyant and Sultan, in collusion with Russian nationals, first collected blood samples of the 13 men, then opened 13 bank accounts in their names, in which Rs 7 lakh were transferred in each account by the Russian handlers. However, since these men were dispatched to the war zone, their bank accounts were handled by these agents who, according to their family members, sent them mere Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 each.
"My son along with other 11 men were approached by Vinod Yadav – a travel intermediator – with a job offer of security guard in Russia at a lucrative package. Since he had been assisting unemployed youth of the surrounding areas for several years to travel to places like Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Middle East for work, nobody doubted his intentions. In fact, Vinod Yadav too joined the 12 men's group to head to Russia. On reaching Russia, my son Humeshwar Prasad (24) called me up and said that Vinod had cheated them all along with three other job agents. The Russians had snatched away their passports, phones, while job agents had confiscated bank details in which Russian handlers had wired money. He used to send voice notes via a Russian Army soldier's phone to keep me posted about his situation on the battlefield," said Humeshwar's father Indu Parsad, a tailor in Sathiaon village of Azamgarh.
The family members lost contact with them between April and May months. These men were posted in separate groups along the Ukraine-Russian border with various Russian battalions. Those who sustained injuries or were killed in battlefield, were compensated with Rs 30 lakh into their bank account opened in Russia. However, since the bank accounts, debit cards and other details were with job agents, the money never reached our family members, said Rakesh Yadav of Bhimsenpur village, Azamgarh, who managed to return home in September following the intervention of PM Narendra Modi in July. He had suffered a grenade splinter in elbow in Sudzha area of Russian control.
"We don't want money, but just the safe return of my brother Azaruddin Khan. He was a diploma holder from ITI in electrical engineering. It was for the first time that he went to foreign country for a simple job and not to combat on the battlefield. After sending several emails to the Indian embassy in Moscow, we were only told that the status of eight men is still ‘missing'. My father Mainuddin Khan suffered a heart attack when he came to know that Azaruddin was trapped in Russia to fight a war against Ukraine," said Zeba Khan, younger sister of Azaruddin who hailed from Gulami Ka Pura of Azamgarh city.
She added, "Vinod Yadav deceived my brother and other men and took them to Russia, but over there, Vinod, too, was likely double-crossed by agents Sumit, Dushyant and Sultan, who probably sold all 13 men for Rs 7 lakh each. The government must investigate and dig deeper to trace my brother and other seven men."
Vinod's cousin Sunil Yadav and brother-in-law Kanhiya Yadav were killed on the Ukraine-Russia border in March and June, respectively. Their bodies arrived in September and December of 2024.
"Since my cousin Vinod Yadav was good at liaisoning and had been involved in helping unemployed youth to travel to foreign lands for work, he came in contact with Sumit, Dushyant and Sultan. They are most likely currently based in Russia, as when we reached their office in New Delhi's Bhikaji Cama Place, the office was found shut down. Vinod has three children, including two daughters," said Brajesh Kumar Yadav of Chandrapar village in Mau district.
Brajesh was prevented by Vinod from coming to Russia, after he found that it was a trap set up to bring Indian men to fight for the Russian Army.