A 25-year-old man from Punjab’s Moga district, who had gone to Moscow on a student visa last year, has reportedly been captured by the Russian army and pushed into the battlefield.
It is to be noted that the man, identified as Boota Singh, went to Russia on October 24, 2024, through a Delhi-based agent who charged his family Rs 3.5 lakh. He was working as a labourer in Moscow for the past few months before being detained by Russian forces on August 18 this year. He is a native of Chak Kanian Kalan village in Dharamkot sub-division of Moga district.
In a video going viral on social media, Boota Singh revealed that he, along with around 14 others from Punjab and Haryana, had been taken to army camps and were being forced into combat without any military training. He claimed that five or six of them had already gone missing after being sent to the frontlines.
In the viral video Boota is seen with four other men who introduce themselves as natives of Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir. One of them is heard saying, “We had come to Moscow, where we were put in contact with a woman who had claimed that there were vacancies for jobs such as computer operator, driver, etc. We were interested only in these jobs. Our documents were taken away and we were lured with good salaries.”
“We were a total of 25 men. They made us sign a contract but we have no idea what was written in it. Then they sent us to an army training centre and we were handed guns. We repeatedly refused, saying that we cannot operate guns, but they said, ‘Either kill the enemy or we will kill you.’ We all got scared. Now we have been brought to the Ukrainian border. Those who leave from here for the battlefield, either go missing or do not return,” the man added.
“We urge the Punjab Government and the BJP-led Union Government to please evacuate us. The agent lied to us and brought us here. This might be our last video. We are in danger,” he said.
In another video, Boota Singh can he heard saying, “We never knew we will be recruited in the army. They are not even giving us food or water. We have been cheated. We were promised other jobs.”
Boota Singh’s last communication with his family was a WhatsApp voice note on September 12. Since then, his family has lost contact with him. Now, his family have appealed to the Indian Government to intervene and bring him back safely.
Speaking to the Indian Express, his sister Karamjit Kaur said her brother had gone to Russia on October 24 last year via a Delhi-based agent whom he had contacted via YouTube. “It was only recently that we got to know that he had been forcibly taken to the battlefield and recruited in the Russian Army. He has no idea how to operate any weapon. He is on the brink of death. We appeal to the Union and the Punjab Government to bring him back,” said Karamjit.
Boota’s father Ram Singh is a daily wager. Before moving to Russia, Boota, who had studied till Class 8, worked for a private company in Singapore for nearly four years. “We sold our land to pay the agent and now in the floods, another two acres which we had taken on contract to grow paddy, has been washed away. We only want him back home safe. He is the only son of my parents,” Karamjit added.
Karamjit added, “We have no idea if the agent sent him to Russia legally or illegally but now he is in grave trouble. He never told us that he was recruited in the Russian Army. We got to know only through videos that went viral. He has been pushed into the face of death. We are also under a debt of Rs 6 lakh. The agent had promised him a job in Russia.”
In her letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, his mother Paramjit stated that Boota had gone to Russia for higher studies around a year ago. “We now know that the Russian Government has forcibly recruited my son into its army and pushed him into the face of death. He is my only son. He is currently living in the shadow of fear and death, and he has not been given any kind of training. Neither does my son know how to handle any kind of weapon. We came to know that 15 other Punjabis have also been forcibly recruited in the Army and four-five of them are said to have died,” she wrote.
While speaking to India Today, Gursevak Singh from Jalandhar, another Indian forced to join Russian army, described how he and 14 others were misled into joining the Russian army. “We are stuck on a Russian visit on visitor visa—we have been handed over guns and no training. We don’t even have food to eat. But now time is running out.”
Another man said, “Of the 15 of us, five have died. Eight have already been sent to the frontline, and now six of us are being prepared for deployment. We came here on student visas, but without any training, we were pushed into the army. We request the Modi government to evacuate us.”
‘Forced into Russian Army’, Haryana youth’s last SOS
Earlier, few days back, two Indian youths from Haryana, Ankit Jangra and Vijay Poonia claimed that they were also forces into joining the Russian army and deployed to fight in Ukraine. Ankit Jangra, in a final message, said he was being sent to the war zone and would lose contact. Vijay Poonia said that that their WhatsApp accounts were deleted after sharing videos.
🔴Indian 🇮🇳 forced to fight for Russian 🇷🇺 Army; says this is his last message
As per this video 2 men from Haryana were forced to join the Russian armed forces and fight Ukraine 🇺🇦 war.
Ankit Jangra sent his last voice message to his brother on 11 Sep, saying that he was being… pic.twitter.com/jOa9CHcyRW
— Resonant News🌍 (@Resonant_News) September 14, 2025
He told all this in a voice message to his brother, saying that he was being taken to the war zone at 5am on Friday (September 12) and would lose access to his phone.
The message was sent through Telegram as the Russian Army had earlier deleted their WhatsApp accounts, said Raghuvir, brother Ankit Jangra.
Raghubir said his brother went to Moscow for a Russian language course and was working at KFC before being duped by a woman offering a guard’s job. During the so-called agreement process, they were threatened, made to sign papers in Russian, and forced into army uniforms. They underwent 10 days of weapons training, before being told they would be sent to Ukraine.
He also revealed that Ankit went to Russia after taking a loan of Rs 4.75 lakh against their house. The family has no agricultural land, and Raghuvir himself is a labourer. “Now only I, my father, and mother are left at home. My brother got trapped in this deception,” he said.
On the night of September 12, Vijay Poonia also sent a message to his friend Ramesh Kumar through Facebook, claiming that the Russian Army discovered they were sharing videos and forced them to delete their WhatsApp accounts.
MEA warns Indian citizens to ‘stay away’ from offers to join Russian army
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) raised the issue with Russian authorities in both Moscow and Delhi. “We once again strongly urge all Indian nationals to stay away from any offers to join the Russian army as this is a course fraught with danger,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
In its statement on September 11, the MEA has said, “many Indians were likely misled by agents with false promises of construction jobs, only to be deployed on the battlefield. The ministry has repeatedly issued warnings to Indian nationals to stay away from offers to join the Russian army.”
“We have seen reports about Indian nationals having been recruited recently into the Russian army. The government has on several occasions over the past year underlined the risks and dangers inherent in this course of action and cautioned Indian citizens accordingly,” said the MEA statement.
The ministry confirmed that the issue has been raised with Russian authorities in both Delhi and Moscow, stressing that the practice must be “ended and that our nationals be released”.
Earlier, according to the MEA’s reply in Lok Sabha on February 7 this year, “Out of the 127 Indian nationals in the Russian armed forces, the services of 97 individuals have been discontinued. Twelve Indian nationals are reported to have lost their lives. Eighteen Indian nationals remain in the Russian armed forces, out of which 16 have been reported missing by the Russian side.”
“As a result of regular engagement between India and Russia, including at the highest level, most of Indian nationals in the Russian armed forces have been discharged. In August 2024, the Russian side announced that the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation had stopped admitting Indian nationals in its armed forces since April 2024,” the ministry said in its reply.
Notably, according to a report, out of 127 Indians who were forced to join Russian army, 29 were from Punjab followed by Haryana (16), Uttar Pradesh (15), and Kerala (11).
Back from Russia, 40-year-old recounts ordeal in war zone
A 40-year-old Punjabi man, Sarabjit Singh from Amritsar returned from Russia on April 20, has shared a chilling account of his eight-month-long ordeal in the Russian army, where he claims he was forced into active combat near the Ukraine border with mere 15 days of training.
He said he was sent straight to the war zone at the Ukraine border after just two weeks of military training. “I along with a group of 18 people went to Moscow for courier work. Upon arrival at the airport, we were detained and taken to a building where we underwent documentation and medical checkups. After this, we were given just 15 days of military training before being sent to the conflict zone,” he said.
Sarabjit said he had never been so close to death in his entire life. “There were days when we had no availability of drinking water and food. At one point, I became so mentally broken that I even tried to pull the pin of a hand grenade to end my life,” he said.
Comments