One of 2 Telangana youths, forced to work for Russian army, dies fighting Ukraine war

Hyderabad: In a tragic end, one of the two youths from Telangana, who were forced to work for the Russian army, has died in the ongoing Russia- Ukraine war.

It came to light that of the 20 odd youths from India who were duped by the job agents offering helpers jobs in the Russian army were from Telangana, as confirmed by the MEA.

Mohammed Afsan, 30, from Bazaar Ghat of Hyderabad's old city, and Mohammed Sufiyan from Narayanpet went to Russia to work as helpers to the army.

On Wednesday, a staffer from MEA had informed the family members of Afsan that he had died.

“I can't talk about anything now. We are awaiting more details,” Afsan's brother Mohammed Imran told DH.

Imran, who runs a small business, a few days ago told DH that his brother was working in a cloth store in Hyderabad and was duped by a job agent from Dubai who promised a helper job in the Russian army.

Imran confirmed that it was in November last year Afsan along with two others went to Moscow from Chennai via Sharjah. It was on December 31 last Afsan spoke to his family members back home in Hyderabad.

As the family members could not contact Afsan after December, they grew suspicious and approached Namapally police who registered an FIR. As there has been no much progress in the case, they later approached Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.

The AIMIM chief took up the matter with the MEA. After Owaisi's intervention, MEA confirmed that, along with the two youths from Telangana, a few more from other parts of the country had left to Russia to work for the Russian army as helpers.

Imran told DH that a job agent from Dubai, Faisal Khan, who runs a YouTube channel had promised his brother Rs 30,000 per month initially and then Rs 1.5 lakh later as salary to work as a helper in the Russian army.

However, after Afsan reached Moscow in November, he along with others were taken to Rostov-on-Don, which is 100 km from the Ukraine border. He was forced to join an army training camp and later sent to the battlefield.

Afsan had paid around Rs 3 lakh to the Dubai based job agent. Afsan has two children, an eight month old daughter and two year old son and is survived by wife.

Imran was also getting ready to go to Moscow to trace and bring his brother back. Meanwhile, he received the information about his death.

The Indian Embassy in Russia identified the deceased as Mohammed Asfan, but did not provide any details on the circumstances of his death.

“We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Shri Mohammed Asfan. We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities. Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India,” the embassy said in a post on X.

Asfan is the second Indian national to have died in Russia, as per PTI. Last week, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi that authorities are trying their best for an "early discharge" of around 20 Indian nationals who are working as support staff to the Russian army.

"It is our understanding that there are 20-odd people (Indians) who have gone there to work as support staff or as helpers with the Russian army," Jaiswal said.

"We are trying our level best for their early discharge," he added.

Jaiswal had said that the "20-odd people" contacted the Indian embassy in Moscow.

(With PTI inputs)