Ukraine’s 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade captured an Indian man fighting for Russia, they announced on Tuesday.
The brigade posted a video of the 22-year-old to Facebook, along with some of the details of his story, which the brigade stressed he told them voluntarily.
Majoti Sahil Mohamed Hussein told his capturers that he went to Russia as a student, but was arrested after being found with drugs. The Russian authorities gave him a choice between prison and being sent to the front.
According to the brigade, Hussein “swears that he was not going to fight, he planned to escape immediately.”
He therefore surrendered to the 63rd during the first assault he participated in.
“As we can see, the occupiers continue to actively recruit foreigners into their army and are only expanding their geography,” the brigade said.
On Sept. 22, Business Insider reported that a 36-year-old Kenyan athlete had been captured by Ukrainian forces near Vovchansk.
Like Hussein, Evans Kibet said that he did not join the Russian army of his own free will. Kibet visited Russia as a tourist, where he was tricked into signing documents in Russian he did not understand.
The Kenyan government are reportedly investigating his claims.
India, like Russia, is a member of the loose political and economic alignment of countries known as BRICS (made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.)
Despite this nominal alliance, The Hindustan Times reported on Aug. 2, 2024, that at least eight Indian nationals had been killed fighting for Russia.
An unspecified additional number of Indian nationals had asked their government for help after being “recruited into the Russian armed forces in unclear circumstances.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly secured a promise from Russian President Vladimir Putin that all such individuals would be speedily returned. The Kremlin said in April last year that the Russian army was no longer recruiting Indian nationals, as per The Hindustan Times.
However, Hussein’s capture suggests that Putin failed to keep this promise. In the meantime, the number of Indian nationals known to have died in Ukraine has risen to 12.
The Indian government is yet to react to Hussein’s case – according to The Hindustan Times, the Indian embassy in Kyiv is currently attempting to verify the story.