Two of four Kerala youth forced into Russia-Ukraine war to return home: MoS Muraleedharan

Thiruvananthapuram: Two of the four Kerala-based youths who fought in the war against Ukraine after being recruited into the Russian army by private agencies will soon return home to their families, Union Minister of State (Mos) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan has said.

The MoS said on Tuesday evening that the Indian Embassy was readying their travel documents to return from Russia.

"We expect that they will soon return home," Muraleedharan, who is contesting from the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency in the upcoming 2024 general elections, told reporters.

Regarding the remaining two residents of the state, the MoS said the External Affairs Ministry was in talks with the Russian government to bring them back as well.

"Rest assured we are taking strong measures to ensure their return," he said.

According to the relatives of the three men, he said that they were taken to Russia by a recruitment agency with the promise of a whopping salary of Rs 2.5 lakh.

Earlier, Muraleedharan had said that authorities have launched an investigation into agencies that recruited Indians to go to war-torn Ukraine after luring them with the promise of lucrative jobs in Russia.

He had also said that the Central government was taking all possible efforts to bring back all Indians stranded in the conflict zone, and procedures are underway to take legal action against the agencies that recruited them.