World

Indian men claim they’ve been forced to fight for Russia’s military in Ukraine

Published

1 year ago

April 3, 2024

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It’s a war they didn’t sign up for.

Several Indian men allege they have been forced into fighting for the Russian military in Ukraine.

Thousands of miles away in their village of Mator in Haryana, their families spoke to Sky News about their loved ones caught up in a war zone.

Sky News was shown multiple Russian Ministry of Defence contracts that state the men must perform military duty and service to defend the Russian Federation.

It carries the sign of a commander and the stamp of the military unit.

The men and their families claim they were coerced into signing these contracts.

Seeking a job in Russia, the men travelled on tourist visas.

They were then arrested by Russian authorities for violating visa laws and told to either serve for a year in the Russian military or face 10 years in prison.

Their phones and passports were confiscated and were taken to a military camp where they were made to sign a contract in Russian.

Families insist the men went for non-combatant jobs. With less than 15 days of training, they were thrust into battle.

Ajay, the elder brother of 20-year-old Ravi who is fighting on the frontline told Sky News: “He’s been duped, he was supposed to be a helper and they forced him into the war in Ukraine, this is cheating.

“He was made to sign a contract in Russian language which he does not understand, they said either go to jail for 10 years or fight in the war. They had no choice.”

Sky News put these allegations to the Russian embassy in Delhi but has received no response yet.

It is sombre at Baagh Singh’s home – his 20-year-old son Sahil is in hospital somewhere on the frontline.

“We are in a bad condition, we have all become sick and depressed thinking about him,” he said.

His elder brother Aman showed Sky News a copy of the medical report.

“The Army gave him a job of a helper but he didn’t know he will be sent to war. He is injured by a bomb dropped by a drone.

“As soon as he gets better, he will be sent back to the frontline. After that, there is no chance of him coming back.”

For Jaiveer, it is a tormenting wait for a call from his younger brother Baldev, who is on the frontlines in Luhansk.

“We have had to keep this a secret from his wife, it will be really bad for her. It’s only sadness at home. Not only us but the whole village is mourning.”

“Each time we speak he begs us to bring him back. It’s just too dangerous,” said Vikram, the elder brother of Rajendra who fighting alongside Baldev.

Many who sought these opportunities are from small cities and towns, where unemployment, shrinking incomes and a rural economy that is in distress have forced many to seek better prospects abroad.

Families have sold land, taken loans and borrowed money to finance these trips.

But the men have ended up deceived by agents and coerced to fight in a foreign land.

There are no exact numbers of how many Indians are stuck, but it could be dozens.

Briefing reporters, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Indian foreign ministry, said: “We are pressing very hard with the Russian authorities for early discharge of our people who are stuck there.

“We’ve also told people not to venture into the war zone or get caught into situations which are difficult. We are in regular touch with Russian authorities both here in New Delhi and also in Moscow.”

Body bags have begun to return home. Last month Hemil Mangukiya from Surat and Mohammad Asfan from Hyderabad were killed on the frontline.

Ajay plays a 90-second video of his brother Ravi who is inside a tank amid thunderous explosions.

“There is no chance to survive this bombing. Hear the bombs exploding around me. We are stuck in the middle of this, there is no escape as drones are dropping bombs from above. Its not possible to get out,” he said in the recording.

It has been three weeks since Ajay has heard from him.

In a video message sent to Sky News from Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 19-year-old Harsh Kumar said: “We are on the frontline in Ukraine, stuck in the Russian Army.

“We have just finished a 10-day duty on the frontline and it is very dangerous. You may not even find our bodies. After two days we will be sent back. Please take us out from here. We again appeal to the Indian government to bring us out.”

Back home in Karnal, his mother is ill with worry. His father Suresh said: “You cannot understand how scared we are, and what goes through our minds. Each morning and night we keep praying to God for his return.”

The families say the men have not been paid, but that is the last thing on their minds.

All they want is for them to return, and with each passing day the wait becomes more agonising.

World

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

13 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

21 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.

Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.

The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.

Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.

Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.

“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.

The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.

It said three children and their mother were among the dead.

Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.

On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.

A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.

People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.

Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.

A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.