‘Treated like dogs’: Russia recruiting thousands of Nepali men to fight in war on Ukraine
Around 2,000 Nepali men have been recruited by Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, Sky News understands.
Driven by poverty, many of the Nepali mercenaries are now desperate to return.
Ganesh, 35, is one of the few recruits lucky enough to have made it home. He spent four and a half months fighting in Donetsk and he says Nepalis were “treated like dogs”.
“It was very frightening. It wasn’t man to man, bullet to bullet. We were attacked by drones and it was terrifying,” he said.
We spoke to him in Kathmandu as he prayed at a temple, relieved but traumatised by his experience on the frontline.
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Ganesh only escaped the Russian military on his third attempt
He says soldiers were taken to Avangard training centre, a military academy outside of Moscow, where they were for two weeks.
Ganesh served 10 years in the Indian army, but many others alongside him were young and inexperienced. He describes some as never having held a gun before.
‘Thrown into conflict with little support’
After training, he says there was a sharp shift in the way foreign mercenaries were treated: they were suddenly thrown into conflict with very little support.
“For the first two weeks of training, life was good. But once we were sent to Ukraine, we didn’t have enough food and were beaten by the Russians. It was really bad.”
Nepali men, Ganesh claims, were cannon fodder in their war. “The original Russian soldiers were behind us. On the frontline it was mercenaries.”
He describes a clear pecking order with Russian criminals, Nepalis and Indians ahead of Kremlin troops.
Ganesh saw three Nepali men killed on the battlefield, but has heard of many, many more casualties.
‘Once we were sent to Ukraine, we didn’t have enough food and were beaten by the Russians’
Soldiers told Russia was ‘full of opportunities’
He says he was struggling to find work and when he went to an agent to see if he could work in Luxembourg, the agent suggested he should go to Russia instead because it was “full of opportunities”.
Ganesh then had to take out a loan and pay him one million Nepali Rupees (nearly £6,000) to travel from Moscow via Dubai on a tourist visa.
The average monthly Nepali salary is the equivalent of less than £150. But he was told by the agent he could earn about £1,675 a month if he joined the Kremlin’s campaign.
Once in Russia he then had to pay another agent nearly £800 just to be taken to the training camp.
Ganesh said they were attacked by drones
The figure of 2,000 men recruited into the Russian army is based on the testimony of returning soldiers, as well as Russian immigration data. It has also been cross-referenced with estimates provided by campaigners supporting the families of those still serving or dead.
Many Nepalis have described being given student or tourist visas to get to Russia and the Nepali government is so concerned, that it has taken action.
Nepal has asked for soldiers to be repatriated
It was already illegal for Nepalis to fight for foreign militaries, including Russia’s. But in January this year, the government banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine for work and has asked Moscow to repatriate all Nepalis who were recruited.
Superintendent Nawaraj Adhikari told Sky News the police are cracking down on agents – the men who help sort the documents required to cross into Russia and illegally fight its war.
“Police have already arrested 22 suspects,” he said. “It’s a big, serious problem.”
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Superintendent Nawaraj Adhikari
The relatives of more than 150 Nepali mercenaries have filed requests appealing to the consular department after losing contact with their relatives. And yet, men desperate to escape poverty, continue to make the perilous journey to the battlefield.
‘It’s not like it looks on TikTok’
Many say they were wooed by watching TikTok videos of happy-looking recruits training in Russia. But Ganesh is urging anyone considering it not to sign up.
“I would tell them not to go. On TikTok you see them with fancy uniforms with fancy guns. But it’s nothing like that.”
TikTok videos showing Nepali men in the Russian army
Getting out of the war is proving treacherous. Ganesh said he tried to flee with six other Nepali men, but was caught and badly beaten by Russian soldiers.
He tried a second time to use an agent. “There was a Nepali guy, I contacted him and he said to send me 200,000 rubles (£1,700).
“I did that, then ran away from the barracks and looked around for the taxi he was meant to send but it wasn’t there. Then he went out of contact.”
Ganesh said many of his fellow Nepalis had tried the same. “I have seen 10 to 15 Nepalis who were wandering around, out of their minds, cheated by agents.”
He eventually fled again on foot, sleeping in old buildings, spending a week in the forest before finally surrendering to the Russian police in Donetsk.
“I realised I could not cross the border and that I wouldn’t survive if I stayed here. I gave myself up and went to the police. I was detained for one-and-a-half months and then they sent me back to Nepal.”
Kritu Bhandari, a Kathmandu-based politician and social campaigner, has become the leader of a group of family members of Nepali mercenaries who are calling for their return from Russia.
She says in recent weeks about 700 families have asked her for help in bringing their relatives home. She says she is also aware of 260 mercenaries who are out of contact with their loved ones.
Kathmandu
The Nepali government told Sky News 246 of its citizens are fighting for the Russian army currently and that at least 21 have been killed. But lawmakers and human rights’ campaigners in Nepal say those official estimates vastly underestimate the real numbers.
According to the Nepali Foreign Ministry, Russian authorities have reportedly agreed to provide compensation to the victims’ families and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has assured his Nepali counterpart that he will address their concerns.
But Moscow has said nothing yet about stopping the recruitment of Nepalis or repatriating the dead. Sky News asked the Russian Ministry of Defence and the embassy in Nepal to comment on Ganesh’s allegations, and to provide the number of Nepali mercenaries in its armed forces. Neither have yet responded.
What is clear is that Nepal is caught in a conflict it has no stake in, driven by many who were trying to escape poverty.
They now look increasingly exposed with no guarantees of a safe return.
US sanctions against Russia’s two largest energy companies, the state-owned Rosneft and privately held Lukoil, are perhaps the most significant economic measures imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine.
If fully implemented, they have the potential to significantly choke off the flow of fossil fuel revenue that funds Russia’s war machine, but their power lies not in directly denying Russia access to the tankers, ports and refineries that make the oil trade turn, but the US financial system that greases the wheels.
Ever since the invasion, the Russian government has proved masterful at evading sanctions, aided and abetted by allies of economic convenience and an oil industry with decades of experience.
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New US sanctions on Russia: What do we know?
While the West, principally the EU, has largely turned off the taps and stopped buying Russian oil, China, India and Turkey became the largest consumers, with a shadow fleet of tankers ensuring exports continued to flow.
Data from the Centre for Research into Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows that while fossil fuel revenues have fallen from more than €1bn a day before the war, they have remained above €600m since the start of 2023, only dipping towards €500m in the last month.
None of that oil has been heading for the US, but these sanctions will directly impact the ability of the Russian companies, and anyone doing business with them, to operate within America’s financial orbit.
According to the order from the US Office for Foreign Asset Control, the sanctions block all assets of the two companies, their subsidiaries and a number of named individuals, as well as preventing US citizens or financial institutions from doing business with them.
It also threatens foreign financial institutions that “facilitate transactions… involving Russia’s military-industrial base” with direct or secondary sanctions.
Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting in Moscow.
Pic: Sputnik/Reuters
In practice, the measures should prevent the two companies from accessing not just dollars, but trading markets, insurance and other services with any financial connection to the US.
Taken in harness with similar steps announced by the UK earlier this month, analysts believe they can have a genuinely chilling effect on the market for Russian oil and gas.
Russia’s customers for oil in China, India and Turkey will also be affected, with the largest companies, state-owned and private, expected to be unwilling to take the risk of engaging directly with sanctioned entities.
Indian companies are already reported to be “recalibrating” their imports following the announcement, which came just a week after Donald Trump announced an additional 25% import tariff on Indian goods as punishment for the country’s reliance on Russian oil.
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That does not mean that Russian oil and gas exports will cease. There are other unsanctioned Russian energy companies that can still trade, and ever since the first barrel of oil was tapped, the industry has proved adept at evading sanctions intended to interrupt its flow from one country or another.
Any significant increase in the oil price beyond the 5% seen in the aftermath of the announcement could also put pressure on the White House, which is at least as sensitive to fuel prices at home as it is to foreign wars.
But analysts Kpler expect the sanctions to cause “an immediate, short-term hiatus in Russian crude exports, as it will take time for sellers to reorganise and rebuild their trading systems to circumvent restrictions and ease buyers’ concerns”.
And Russian gas will, for now, continue to flow into Europe, where distaste for Vladimir Putin‘s imperial ambitions has not killed the appetite for his fuel. While the EU has this week imposed sanctions on liquified natural gas (LNG), they will not be fully enforced until 2027.
World
Dublin protests: Prams filled with fireworks as teens – and children as young as seven – clash with police
At least 23 people have been arrested during a second night of violent disorder near an asylum hotel in Dublin.
Two police officers were taken to hospital with injuries sustained during clashes with protesters – including one who was struck on the head by a bottle.
A Sky News crew was caught in the confusion as police charged at crowds, who were throwing fireworks, stones and other debris.
Pic: PA
It is the third night of demonstrations at the Citywest Hotel following an alleged sexual assault in the early hours of Monday morning.
A demonstration in the wake of the incident, which allegedly involved a 10-year-old girl, turned violent on Tuesday night. A police officer was injured and six arrests were made.
A 26-year-old man, who cannot be named due to rules that apply to all sexual assault cases in the Republic of Ireland, appeared in court on Tuesday charged over the alleged attack.
Gardai officers block protesters near the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. Pic: PA
Police had earlier pledged a “robust response” if the violence continued.
Between 7pm and 8pm, hundreds of protesters faced off with around 40 uniformed officers.
The uniformed officers were replaced with the Public Order Unit, who were carrying plastic shields and additional body protection.
A police van was set on fire on Tuesday night.
Protesters detained after stand-off
Hundreds of protesters had been facing off against the public order unit of the Irish police force along Citywest Drive.
While large parts of the crowd dispersed throughout the night, an additional public order unit was deployed to tackle those remaining at the protest shortly after 10pm.
A number of protesters have been detained after fireworks and rocks were thrown at police. Pic: PA
Several of those caught between the two units were tackled and detained as they tried to flee.
Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said “many have been arrested” and “more will follow” – and went on to praise officers who had responded professionally to “thuggish violence” in the area.
Mr O’Callaghan vowed that those arrested would be “charged, named and dealt with relentlessly” by the criminal justice system.
World
Donald Trump imposes sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies as frustration grows with Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war
Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies – and spoke of his frustration with Vladimir Putin.
In a major policy shift, new restrictions have been unveiled against Rosneft and Lukoil – as well as dozens of subsidiaries – due to “Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine”.
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine. We encourage our allies to join us in, and adhere to, these sanctions.”
The move marked a significant change for the Trump administration, which has veered between pressuring Moscow and taking a more conciliatory approach aimed at securing peace in Ukraine.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Trump frustrated with Putin
The US president has resisted pressure to impose energy sanctions on Russia, hoping that Putin would agree to end the fighting. But with no end in sight, he said he felt it was time.
Mr Trump explained he has a “very good relationship” with his Russian counterpart, but felt he had to cancel their planned meeting as “it didn’t feel right to me”.
In a sign of growing frustration, he told reporters: “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I cancelled it. But we’ll do it in the future.
“I have good conversations. And then, they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere.”
He also hinted that the sanctions could be lifted if the Russian president was prepared to cooperate in peace talks.
“We hope that they [the sanctions] won’t be on for long,” he said in the Oval Office. “We hope that the war will be settled.”
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Putin-Trump talks: The view from Moscow
Trump wants Xi to help with Ukraine
Ahead of a meeting next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, Mr Trump said he would like Beijing to help put pressure on Moscow to halt the fighting.
“I think he [Xi] can have a big influence on Putin. I think he can have a big influence … he’s a respected man. He’s a very strong leader of a very big country. And we will certainly be talking about Russia-Ukraine,” he said.
Xi and Putin have formed a strategic alliance between their countries.
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Ukraine denied Tomahawk missiles
However, Mr Trump warned he is not prepared to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, which Kyiv has requested.
He explained it would take the Ukrainians up to a year to learn how to use the “highly complex” weapons.
“The only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot … is if we shot it. And we’re not going to do that.
“It takes a year of intense training to learn how to use it, and we know how to use it, and we’re not going to be teaching other people.”
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