Asfan was dressed better than when he left, a black suit, white shirt, tie and shoes replacing the casual attire Mr Mohamed wore as he was seen off by family and friends.
However, he had to be buried according to the Muslim faith, so his neat clothes had to be removed for the burial. It was then that the man’s brother saw what happened to the 31-year-old. A. Mohamed, who fought in the Russian forces in Ukraine.
“I saw holes in his shoulder, his ribs all the way down to his lower back,” Imran Mohamed told CNN. – There were six or seven holes caused by the drone attack. He cut through his body. There were internal violations. Two teeth were knocked out.”
A close-knit family living in southern India was broken – they lost their husband, father and breadwinner.
Mohamed’s business was also destroyed as a result, as he focused all his energies on finding out what had happened to his brother on the battlefield.
“My efforts to find my brother, my two-month long struggle for my brother, ended painfully. I wanted to react as I looked at his remains, but I just couldn’t. I was completely numb,” he explained.
A lost dream
Asfan suffered an incredible fate, one his family could never have imagined.
Before leaving for Russia, the father of two ran a clothing store, one of nearly 300 Allen Solly stores across India, that sold children’s clothes, wedding tuxedos and other clothing items.
He worked there for eight years, his brother said. According to him, it was not the worst job, but Asfan wanted to provide more for his wife and children aged 2 and 8 months. He dreamed of taking them out of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.
“He wanted to work in Australia, where his sister-in-law lived with her family,” Imran recalled his brother’s dreams. “They invited him and his family there.”
However, this meant that Asfan would need to get a high score in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).
“He was writing the IELTS exam. He was unlucky, Imran told CNN. – He felt demotivated. He tried again. It didn’t help”
But videos on YouTube about job opportunities in Russia gave Asfan new hope, and he contacted a recruitment agency, his brother recalled.
“He was going to work in Russia as a taxi driver or freight forwarder – that process was going on,” Imran explained. – Then a couple of days later the agents said that there are vacancies for support and security personnel in the Russian army. Agents assured him it was the best job. They said that within a year he will be able to get a Russian passport and a national card, through which he can move around neighboring countries.”
Asfan thought it could be a stepping stone to his family’s dream life in Australia, his brother said. Instead, his choice led him to the conflict in Ukraine.
Brainwashed
According to Amran’s brother, he hid his plans from family and friends until it was too late to turn back. Imran found out about his plans only three days before he left for Russia.
By that time, Asfan had paid more than 1.8 thousand. US dollars to the recruiters, who asked him not to tell anyone about his intention to travel to Russia.
“They brainwashed him. They warned Asfan that he could be deported from Russia, from the airport, Imran recalled. “I tried to do everything I could to stop him.”
After completing a route with several stops in other Indian cities and the United Arab Emirates, Asfan arrived in Moscow in mid-November.
A day later, he signed documents in Russian, which he could not read. These documents obliged him to work, his brother claimed.
“He trusted the agents a little too much,” Imran added.
Foreign fighters in Putin’s war
Since V. Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been sending thousands of foreign soldiers to the front, according to CNN.
Many of them are young men from South Asia, lured by the prospect of steady work and higher wages in Russia. Former Nepalese foreign minister Bimala Rai Paudyal claimed to the country’s parliament that 14,000 people are fighting on the front lines. up to 15 thousand Nepalese.
Last year, the Russian government announced a lucrative package for foreign fighters who want to join the country’s military. The package included at least 2 thousand. USD monthly salary and fast granting of Russian citizenship. The Kremlin did not disclose how many foreigners were employed under this plan.
New Delhi has maintained close ties with Moscow since the Cold War and has largely avoided openly condemning the invasion by Russia, which remains India’s biggest arms supplier, CNN explains.
India has also become the main buyer of Russian energy – a record 37 billion was added to Moscow’s coffers last year alone. USD worth of crude oil purchases, which provide vital revenue for the sanctions-hit Russian economy.
Meanwhile, India itself has admitted that a number of its citizens served in Russian forces.
February. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that the release of these Indians from the Russian military before the time stipulated in the contract is the “highest priority”.
But for some Indians, the effort came too late. A spokesman for the ministry explained to CNN that at least two Indians were killed during the conflict.
In early March, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it had busted large-scale human trafficking rings in which men were tricked into working in the Russian military, identifying 35 such cases.
“Trafficked Indian nationals were trained against their will in combat roles and deployed to frontline bases in the Russian-Ukrainian war zone,” the CBI said in a statement.
Weeks of not knowing
Asfan did not tell his brother when he would be sent to Ukraine, but on December 1. Isman contacted him just as he was on his way to the battlefield. He was looking for a way out, Asfan’s brother recalled.
“He asked me to speak to the agents,” Imran said. “I promised him I would try to do my best.”
That was the last time they spoke to each other.
“The military did not communicate with those agents,” Imran claimed. “These middlemen cheated the men and put their lives in danger.”
January 23 Imran received a voicemail from one of the Indians who was deployed with Asfan.
The man claimed that he had found an injured Asfan on the front line the day before. Imran said the soldier was unable to pick up his brother “because of the drones around them”, but relayed the news of Asfan’s condition to the Russian medical team.
Ukrainian forces are using commercial drones against the Russians, which have devastating effects on the front lines – they drop grenades from above or are used as remote-controlled bombs, according to CNN.
Two days after that call, Imran visited a member of the Indian parliament and tried to convince Indian officials to help the injured Asfan. However, he said, requests to the government remained unanswered.
The Indian embassy in Moscow eventually responded that it was investigating the case.
March 6 visiting the MP’s office, Imran got the news he had been dreading all along.
“We called the emergency number of the Indian Embassy in Moscow. As soon as I mentioned Asfan’s name on the phone, I was told that he was dead. I didn’t have the strength to talk to them, he lamented. “I didn’t want to believe what they said.”
He still had no visual evidence of Asfan’s death, but he had to pass this information on to the rest of the family.
Asfan’s wife “was unconscious for three hours,” Imran told CNN. “She cried all night.”
He explained that it pains him to look at his brother’s young children who will never know their father. He says that his own future is also uncertain.
“This has been going on for four months, 24 hours a day,” he fumed. “It was the worst phase I’ve ever been through.” Personal life is gone. No friendship left. I only care about my family.”
And one of his family members, his brother, was gone forever.
Prepared by CNN.
Tags: story Indian citizen killed occupying forces exposed cunning tactics Kremlin
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