On March 10, 2024, The Wire shared an exclusive story of Nepali young men appealing to the Indian government for a rescue. The youths were deployed to fight for the Russian Army in Donetsk, Ukraine.
In the video also shared on X (formerly Twitter) by senior journalist Shalu Yadav, the group of four young men spoke in broken Hindi (with a Nepali accent) directly addressing the Indian government. “We have big hopes from the Indian government that it would not disappoint us,” they said. “Nepal and India have good relations. We want to ask for India’s help as it is powerful. The Nepal government is unable to help us. All of the Nepali men here want to go back home.”
The youths said they had been tricked into fighting for the Russian Army. According to them, their visa agents recruited them as “helpers,” but when they arrived in Russia, they were being deployed in the frontline to fight against Ukraine—with minimal training.
Out of the 30 in their group, only five remained, while the rest were either fighting in actively or were injured. The Nepali citizens’ lack of trust in their country’s ability to rescue them from the warzone is apparent in their plea with India. The video has widely been circulated on social media and covered by Nepali news outlets.