Awantipora, Sep 17: “Indians go back,” ordered a Russian military commander in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. The import of the diktat sank in slowly for Azad Yousuf Kumar whose search for a brighter future had landed him in the heart of the Russia-Ukraine war.
And then it dawned on him. He could go home.
The youth from Awantipora district in South Kashmir, who toiled hard in the war-torn region and endured a near-death experience after getting shot during frontline combat training, was ecstatic that he would reunite with his family after almost two years.
Azad recalled that the Russian commander, in broken English, “read out a few names and then told us ‘Indians go back’. He knew only that much English. We could not believe that he was talking about our freedom.”
The Russian officer mentioned a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting that it had affected the status of their travel.
“He said something like, ‘President Putin met Modi and now your contract is getting canceled’,” Azad said.
Expressing his deep appreciation for the prime minister, he said, “I think it was PM Modi’s Russia visit that helped me reach home safely. During this period, my wife had already given birth to our son.”
More than two years ago, Azad came across the YouTube channel “Baba Vlogs”, reportedly run by Mumbai resident Faisal Khan, that promised jobs in Russia as security helpers, with initial salaries ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and potentially increasing to Rs 1 lakh.
Convinced by the success stories showcased, he applied for the position, paying a hefty sum of Rs 1.3 lakh as travel and processing fees. He left his Poshwan village on December 14, 2022, for Mumbai, where he met a job seeker from Gujarat.
The duo were then sent to Chennai. On December 19, they arrived at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport when the reality of their situation shocked them to the core. They were handed over to the Russian military.
“It sent shivers down my spine. They made us sign a contract in Russian, and all we could do was plead for help,” Azad recounted.
They were soon transported to the Russian-Ukrainian border for frontline combat training. Azad’s harrowing experience included a grueling journey in a cargo aircraft and army trucks to Luhansk. Along with six other Indian recruits, they faced unimaginable hardships.
“We couldn’t speak the language and had no one to turn to for help,” he said, recalling their desperate pleas for assistance.
Just days into their training, Azaad was shot in the foot and spent 18 days in the hospital. “It was like an apocalypse. I didn’t know how to use a gun and that caused my injury.
