Families seek help for four Telangana men allegedly deployed in Ukraine war zone
Families of four men from Telangana say the men travelled to Russia for promised jobs before allegedly being recruited into the Russian military and sent to a war zone. The families have appealed for government intervention, and Telangana officials say they will coordinate with India’s embassy in Moscow.
Families of four men from the erstwhile Nizamabad district in Telangana have asked the government to help bring them home after alleging that the men were recruited into the Russian military and deployed to a war zone. The men are Bhookya Ravinder, 44, of Nallagutta Thanda; Sirshu Ashok, 44, of Oddera Colony; Megavath Prakash, 40, of Cheruvu Thanda; and Mohammed Afzal Khan, 43, of Tadkole in Kamareddy district. According to their families, the men travelled to Russia after being promised employment in the oil industry.
They later sought alternative work after their salaries were allegedly withheld. The families said an agent promised that they would perform support services for the military and would not take part in combat. They allege that the men were subsequently trained to handle weapons and ammunition and sent to the frontline in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine.
Manda Bheem Reddy, vice-chairman of the Government NRI Advisory Committee, said the men had been induced to join the Russian military after not receiving their promised salaries. Sirushu Saritha, Ashok’s wife, said he travelled to Russia in February after an agent promised him an oil-company job. She said he had not been paid after two months and was later persuaded, along with the other men, to join the military.
Ravinder’s son, Bhookya Nithin, said his father had previously worked in Gulf countries for about eight years and travelled to Russia roughly seven months ago in search of employment. The families said they were worried about the men’s safety and requested urgent diplomatic intervention. They submitted a representation to the Chief Minister’s Prajavani office in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, who is in charge of the programme, said officials handling NRI affairs would coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Moscow. She said the State government had also written to the embassy and would make every possible effort to support the men’s safe return.
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