Moscow agreed to release all Indians serving in its Armed Forces and facilitate their return after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian news publication NDTV reported on July 9, citing unnamed sources.
Russia's war against Ukraine resulted in heavy casualties for the Russian military. Seeking to limit unpopular conscription among the domestic population, Moscow has been recruiting foreigners from such countries as Nepal, Somalia, India, Cuba, and others to fight in Ukraine.
Multiple cases of Indian men coming to Russia for work or tourism before being coerced to join the war against Ukraine and, in some cases, dying in battle have been reported.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in March it had identified 35 cases of Indian men being lured to fight for Moscow in Ukraine. At least two have been confirmed as killed in combat.
Modi raised the issue during a private dinner with Putin on July 8 during his first trip to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to NDTV's sources.
No further details of the agreement were reported. Moscow and New Delhi are yet to comment on these claims.
Modi's trip to Russia amid Moscow's missile strike on Ukraine on July 8, which targeted the country's largest children's hospital in Kyiv, has drawn criticism from President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While Western officials condemned the Russian attack, the Indian prime minister posted a photo of himself shaking hands and hugging Putin, voicing hope for "cementing the bonds of friendship" between the two nations.
New Delhi has been calling for a diplomatic solution to Russia's war against Ukraine but has been simultaneously fostering close economic ties with Moscow. India became one of the chief buyers of Russian oil following Western sanctions, although pressure from U.S. sanctions increasingly threatens this trade.
While India participated in Ukraine's global peace summit in June, Modi did not attend personally, and India's representative did not ultimately sign the joint communique.
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