Forty-five Indians who had been illegally inducted into the Russian army and made to fight in the war on Ukraine have been discharged, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
Around 50 more Indians are still believed to be with the Russian army, and the government is continuously in talks with Moscow to get them discharged, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press conference.
Jaiswal said that ten Indians were discharged before Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Russia and met the country’s President Vladimir Putin, and 35 were released after his visit.
During Modi’s visit to Russia in July, the foreign ministry had said that Moscow had promised the early release of all Indians from the country’s military.
Around a hundred Indians were believed to have been forced to fight alongside the Russian army in its war on Ukraine. Dozens of them had sought the government’s help to return home.
At least four Indians have been killed during the conflict.
On June 11, the ministry stated that two Indians who had been recruited by the Russian Army had been killed. One of them was identified as 29-year-old Tejpal Singh, who was a resident of Punjab’s Amritsar.
On February 24, The Hindu reported that a 23-year-old man from Gujarat who was hired as an “army security helper” in Russia was allegedly killed in a Ukrainian air strike in Donetsk close to the Russia-Ukraine border. On March 6, reports emerged that a Hyderabad man who was allegedly forced to fight alongside the Russian military was killed in Russia.