Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday sought the intervention of the Centre to repatriate the Indian citizens, including three from Kerala trapped in war-torn Ukraine after they were forced to join the Russian Army. In a letter to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Vijayan requested him to take steps to repatriate three Keralites--Tinu, Prince and Vineeth, natives of Anchuthengu in Thiruvananthapuram.
Three young men from Kerala are stranded in war-torn Ukraine after being lured with the promises of a lucrative job in the Russian army and then being allegedly forced to fight in the ongoing conflict there. Talking to Manorama News, Prince who is injured in the war revealed that a man named Alex trapped him and his two relatives in the fake recruitment and forced them to fight for the Russian army.
In the letter to the Centre, the CM noted that the youngsters were taken to Russia on January 23 for the job of security personnel, for which an amount of Rs seven lakh was paid to an agent. "But the unscrupulous agent cheated them and they were forced to join the Russian Military Force," he said. According to the families of the three men, they were taken to Russia by a recruitment agency with the promise of a huge salary of Rs 2.5 lakh and on reaching there, their passports and mobile phones were taken away. Thereafter, they were forced to fight for the Russian forces in Ukraine, they had alleged.
Pinarayi Vijayan, in the letter, said Prince got badly injured in an encounter and was hospitalised while Tinu and Vineeth are posted elsewhere. He also said that the matter was taken up with the Ambassador of India in Moscow and the Joint Secretary of the Union Ministry on March 16 and 19 respectively. "But there has been no response from both so far."
Reacting to the reports about the three men being stranded in Ukraine, Union Minister V Muraleedharan had on Thursday said the Indian government is aware of the matter and was in talks with Russia to make arrangements for the return of Indians who want to come back. Muraleedharan also said that many of those who went to Russia did not do so through proper or official channels and were taken there by fake recruitment agencies.
As per the data recieved by the central government, over 20 Indians have fallen prey to this human trafficking network that duped young men with false job promises. CBI has registered a case after dismanting this network following the deaths of two Indians in Russia-Ukraine war. Multiple visa consultancy firm and agency were booked in this case.
(With PTI inputs)
