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Article

7 Mar 2024

Author:
By Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Aakash Hassan, and Gaurav Pokharel, The Guardian (UK)

‘He had no idea he was being sent to a war zone’: the Indian and Nepali men on frontlines in Ukraine

See all tags Allegations

… Lured by a recruitment video he had seen on YouTube, the 23-year-old had thought he was going for a secure security job far from the war in Ukraine. But…he was instead sent to a month-long military training camp and then taken to the frontlines, where he was made to dig trenches, carry ammunition and operate rifles and machine guns…

The call that came days later shattered his father’s heart: Mangukiya had died in a missile strike somewhere in Ukraine…

…paying an agent he met through YouTube 300,000 rupees (£3,000) as an advance on his pay. But instead, his family says, he was sent on to a military training camp in Russia paying an agent he met through YouTube 300,000 rupees (£3,000) as an advance on his pay. But instead, his family says, he was sent on to a military training camp in Russia…

… several cited a YouTube channel, Baba Vlogs, which is run by Faisal Khan – an Indian recruiter operating out of Dubai – as the platform that had duped them…

Khan told the Guardian that he had sent 26 Indians to Russia before claiming he realised that he had been “misled” by a Russian intermediary about the nature of the job…