HYDERABAD: About seven months after a video surfaced of him pleading for rescue at the war-torn Russia-Ukraine border, Telangana native Mohammad Sufiyan returned home on Friday to a rapturous welcome. The 22-year-old was accompanied by three other young men from Karnataka – all duped by a rogue agent and deceitfully placed in a private Russian army to fight against Ukraine.
According to them, at least 60 Indian Youth fell victim to this Job fraudand many of them are still languishing abroad. They were all disembarked from India in December 2023 with the promise of finding them work in Russia as security personnel or aid workers.
But when they landed in Russia, their life got worse. “We were treated like slaves,” Sufiyan from Narayanpet told TOI shortly after landing in Hyderabad just after noon on Friday.
The young man recalled the gruesome last few months. “We were woken up every day at 6 a.m. and forced to work for 15 hours straight – without rest or sleep. The conditions were inhumane. We were given only a meager ration. Our hands were blistered, our backs ached and we were depressed. However, when we showed signs of exhaustion, we were shot with bullets to force us back to the arduous work,” Sufiyan added in a trembling voice.
Their tasks were not easy. They had to dig trenches and shoot with assault rifles. They were also trained in the use of Kalashnikovs such as the AK-12 and the AK-74, as well as hand grenades and other explosives.
The greatest challenge, however, was remaining cut off from the rest of the world. Sufiyan and his companions recalled never knowing exactly where they were or where they were being taken, and not being allowed to contact their families in India.
“Our mobile phones were confiscated. During training, I could not talk to my family for months,” said Abdul Nayeem from Karnataka, fighting back tears.
Living in a foreign war zone was an enormous psychological burden for the men. Syed Ilias Hussaini, a resident of Kalaburagi in Karnataka, described the constant fear of being caught in the crossfire and the relentless pressure to perform under life-threatening circumstances. “Every day we woke up not knowing if it would be our last. The noise of gunfire and explosions was a constant backdrop to our lives and we lived in constant fear,” said Ilias with tears in his eyes.
The only way to cope, the men said, was to pray and imagine that one day they would return to India and be reunited with their families. “We longed for the comfort of our families and the safety of our homes. The thought of never seeing them again haunted us every day,” Sufiyan said, holding his brother Mohammad Salman, who was at the airport with his father, mother and others to pick him up.
The sight of other dead “soldiers” only worsened their trauma. “Hamil, a very good friend of mine from Gujarat, was killed in a drone strike. He was part of a team of 24 soldiers, including an Indian and a Nepali. This shook me,” recalls Sufiyan. He adds, “It was only after Hamil’s death that we told our families about our situation, who then requested Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to rescue us from the war zone. I am glad to live to see this day.”
According to them, at least 60 Indian Youth fell victim to this Job fraudand many of them are still languishing abroad. They were all disembarked from India in December 2023 with the promise of finding them work in Russia as security personnel or aid workers.
But when they landed in Russia, their life got worse. “We were treated like slaves,” Sufiyan from Narayanpet told TOI shortly after landing in Hyderabad just after noon on Friday.
The young man recalled the gruesome last few months. “We were woken up every day at 6 a.m. and forced to work for 15 hours straight – without rest or sleep. The conditions were inhumane. We were given only a meager ration. Our hands were blistered, our backs ached and we were depressed. However, when we showed signs of exhaustion, we were shot with bullets to force us back to the arduous work,” Sufiyan added in a trembling voice.
Their tasks were not easy. They had to dig trenches and shoot with assault rifles. They were also trained in the use of Kalashnikovs such as the AK-12 and the AK-74, as well as hand grenades and other explosives.
The greatest challenge, however, was remaining cut off from the rest of the world. Sufiyan and his companions recalled never knowing exactly where they were or where they were being taken, and not being allowed to contact their families in India.
“Our mobile phones were confiscated. During training, I could not talk to my family for months,” said Abdul Nayeem from Karnataka, fighting back tears.
Living in a foreign war zone was an enormous psychological burden for the men. Syed Ilias Hussaini, a resident of Kalaburagi in Karnataka, described the constant fear of being caught in the crossfire and the relentless pressure to perform under life-threatening circumstances. “Every day we woke up not knowing if it would be our last. The noise of gunfire and explosions was a constant backdrop to our lives and we lived in constant fear,” said Ilias with tears in his eyes.
The only way to cope, the men said, was to pray and imagine that one day they would return to India and be reunited with their families. “We longed for the comfort of our families and the safety of our homes. The thought of never seeing them again haunted us every day,” Sufiyan said, holding his brother Mohammad Salman, who was at the airport with his father, mother and others to pick him up.
The sight of other dead “soldiers” only worsened their trauma. “Hamil, a very good friend of mine from Gujarat, was killed in a drone strike. He was part of a team of 24 soldiers, including an Indian and a Nepali. This shook me,” recalls Sufiyan. He adds, “It was only after Hamil’s death that we told our families about our situation, who then requested Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to rescue us from the war zone. I am glad to live to see this day.”
