Driven by poverty and lured by the promise of lucrative salaries, as many as 2,000 Nepali men have been recruited to fight in the ongoing war in Ukraine on behalf of Russia, reports indicate. Their accounts paint a harrowing picture of exploitation and violence, contradicting the allure of opportunities initially presented to them.
Ganesh, a 35-year-old former recruit, recounted his chilling experiences, stating, “It was very frightening. It wasn’t man to man, bullet to bullet. We were attacked by drones and it was terrifying.” Speaking in Kathmandu, he added, “For the first two weeks of training, life was good. But once we were sent to Ukraine, we didn’t have enough food and were beaten by the Russians. It was really bad.”
The testimony of these men, as well as Russian immigration data and estimates from activists, has helped form an estimate of 2,000 recruits. Many of these men were reportedly given student or tourist visas as a means of reaching Russia. The Nepali government has since banned its citizens from traveling to Russia or Ukraine for work and has been active in repatriating its nationals, with police having arrested 22 suspects involved in facilitating this illegal recruitment.
Krishna Bahadur Shai, another Nepali who was enticed by the prospect of better earnings, was confronted with the stark reality of war. “Only the Nepalis are sent on the front line there. Only if the Nepalis are finished do the Russians move forward,” he shared bitterly.
Despite Nepal’s condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine, the hefty paycheck, which is several times the average Nepali salary, has been too tempting for many. This has resulted in men like Shai being ensnared in a conflict thousands of miles from home, where they often serve as cannon fodder for Russian troops.
The human cost of this war extends to the families of the mercenaries as well. Sharmila Giri, whose husband Rajkumar joined the Russian army and was killed in combat, has yet to receive any of the promised earnings and has had to perform her husband’s last rites in Nepal without his body.
Furthermore, investigations in Nepal have uncovered a network of agents capitalizing on the desperation of these men. The scam typically begins with an offer of employment or education in Russia, requiring large sums of money for paperwork and travel. Once in Russia, the recruits are presented with the opportunity to join the military, often under false pretenses.
The gravity of the situation is encapsulated by the story of Bimal Bhandari, another Nepali recruit who, after being wounded and attempting to desert, expressed his dire predicament: “I do not want to recover – as soon as I get better, I’ll be pushed to the front line.”
Nepal has been advocating for the return of its citizens and the bodies of the deceased through diplomatic channels, but the responses have been slow in coming. The Russian government has yet to address these issues publicly, and the Kremlin’s reported agreement to provide compensation to victims’ families remains an unfulfilled assurance.
Caught between poverty at home and the horrors of war abroad, these Nepali men’s stories underline the human tragedy stemming from a conflict that they have no stake in, with no certainty of a safe return. This situation highlights not only the exploitation of vulnerable populations in times of war but also the lengths to which Russia is willing to go to bolster its forces in a contentious and costly conflict.
Relevant articles:
– ‘Treated like dogs’: Russia recruiting thousands of Nepali men to fight in war on Ukraine
– The Russian scam luring Nepalese men with the promise of a better life, only to drop them on the battlefield in Ukraine, ABC News, Sat, 16 Mar 2024 18:40:36 GMT
– Russia has recruited as many as 15,000 Nepalis to fight its war. Many returned traumatized. Some never came back., CNN, Sun, 11 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT
– ‘Want to go home’: Nepalis fighting for Russia in Ukraine describe horrors, Al Jazeera English, Sat, 10 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT