India on Friday said it is in touch with Russia for the early release of Indians working as support staff of the Russian army. India has requested its citizens to stay away from areas in Ukraine where tensions are ongoing.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made this comment after reports that some Indians were working as support staff of the Russian army in the Russia-Ukraine war. He said that we know that some Indian citizens are working in supporting jobs in the Russian Army. The Indian Embassy in Moscow is in regular touch with the Russian authorities for their early release. We request all Indian citizens to remain alert and stay away from this confrontation. It is said that some Indians are working as security assistants in the Russian Army. Recently this issue was also raised in Parliament.
There are also reports of some Indians stranded in Mariupol, Kharkiv and Rostov-on-Don on the Russia-Ukraine border.
Recently, the Karnataka government had also appealed to the Central Government to try to bring back the Indian citizens stranded in Russia. These citizens are said to be mainly from Karnataka, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir. According to Karnataka Government Minister Priyank Kharge, these people have been included in the Wagner Group of the Russian Army. Wagner Group is a private army funded by the Russian government, also deployed on the Ukraine front. About 200 people from Nepal have also been recruited into the Russian Army.