139 Indian Nationals Released From Russian Army: MEA
New Delhi — A total of 139 Indian nationals have been released from the Russian Army, while India continues to seek the discharge of about two dozen others, the Ministry of External Affairs said Friday.
“We have been following up with the Russian side for the release of the remaining Indian nationals in the Russian Army,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a biweekly media briefing. “So far, our efforts have led to the release of 139 Indian nationals. We continue to pursue the release of the remaining two dozen Indian nationals who are reportedly in the Russian Army.”
Jaiswal also warned Indian citizens against accepting potentially dangerous overseas job offers from untrustworthy recruiters or agencies.
“Once again, we would like to caution our people against job offers that are fraught with risk and made by unscrupulous individuals and agencies,” he said.
The ministry said in December that 202 Indian nationals were believed to have been recruited into the Russian armed forces. Government efforts have led to the discharge of many of them, while more than two dozen were reported killed and some were listed as missing by Russian authorities.
In September 2025, the MEA issued an advisory urging Indian nationals not to join the Russian Army amid reports that some Indians who had traveled to Russia were being placed in combat roles in the war in Ukraine.
The advisory followed a newspaper report in which two Indian men in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine alleged that they had been promised construction jobs in Russia but were instead sent to the front line.
The men, speaking from Selydove, a town captured by Russian forces in November 2024, claimed that at least 13 other Indians were in similar circumstances.
According to the report, the two men had traveled to Russia on student or visitor visas and said an agent had misled them with promises of construction work before they were deployed to the battlefield. (Source: IANS)
