<p>A group of four men on Friday returned to India after they were tricked into joining the Ukraine war and spent months trying to escape the war zone, according to a <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/made-to-work-for-15-hours-a-day-were-fired-at-if-we-slacked-off/articleshow/113337197.cms" rel="nofollow">report</a> in <em>The Times of India</em>.</p><p>Among them was 22-year-old Telangana resident Mohammad Sufiyan, who was seen in a video about seven months ago pleading for help to be rescued from the war-torn country.</p><p>Sufiyan was accompanied by three other men from Karnataka. They were allegedly deceived by a fraudulent agent and forced to draft into a private Russian army to fight Ukraine, the report noted.</p><p>"We were treated like slaves," Sufiyan told <em>TOI</em> after landing in Hyderabad on Friday.</p>.Explained | How Indians were duped into fighting for Russia in the Ukraine war.<p>"We were woken up at 6 am every day and made to work 15 hours straight - with no rest or sleep. The conditions were inhuman. We were given meagre ration. Our hands were blistered, our backs ached and our spirits were broken. Yet, if we showed any signs of exhaustion, bullets were fired at us to force us back into the laborious tasks," <em>TOI</em> quoted Sufiyan.</p><p>The article added that allegedly at least 60 Indian youth fell prey to this job fraud, with many among them yet to be rescued. All of them left India in December 2023, to work either as security personnel or helpers in Russia but were forcefully enlisted in the Russia-Ukraine war upon reaching Russia. </p>.<p>The men were forced to dig trenches and fire assault rifles. They were also trained to fire Kalashnikovs such as the AK-12 and AK-74, along with hand grenades and other explosives. Moreover, they hardly knew their exact location and were not allowed to keep in touch with their families back home. </p><p>"Our mobile phones were seized. For months during the training, I could not talk to my family," <em>TOI</em> quoted Abdul Nayeem from Karnataka. </p><p>Another resident of Kalaburagi in Karnataka, Syed Ilias Hussaini, said that they lived in the constant fear of being caught in the crossfire, "Every day we woke up not knowing if it would be our last. The sound of gunfire and explosions became a constant backdrop to our lives, and we lived in perpetual fear," Ilias told <em>TOI.</em></p><p>Sufiyan also recalled the death of a fellow Indian. "Hamil, a very good friend of mine from Gujarat, was blown to death in a drone attack. He was part of a team of 24 soldiers, including one Indian and one Nepali. It shook me up," he said.</p><p>"It was only after Hamil's death that we told our families about our situation, who then requested Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to rescue us from the warzone. I am glad to be able to see this day," he added.</p>
<p>A group of four men on Friday returned to India after they were tricked into joining the Ukraine war and spent months trying to escape the war zone, according to a <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/made-to-work-for-15-hours-a-day-were-fired-at-if-we-slacked-off/articleshow/113337197.cms" rel="nofollow">report</a> in <em>The Times of India</em>.</p><p>Among them was 22-year-old Telangana resident Mohammad Sufiyan, who was seen in a video about seven months ago pleading for help to be rescued from the war-torn country.</p><p>Sufiyan was accompanied by three other men from Karnataka. They were allegedly deceived by a fraudulent agent and forced to draft into a private Russian army to fight Ukraine, the report noted.</p><p>"We were treated like slaves," Sufiyan told <em>TOI</em> after landing in Hyderabad on Friday.</p>.Explained | How Indians were duped into fighting for Russia in the Ukraine war.<p>"We were woken up at 6 am every day and made to work 15 hours straight - with no rest or sleep. The conditions were inhuman. We were given meagre ration. Our hands were blistered, our backs ached and our spirits were broken. Yet, if we showed any signs of exhaustion, bullets were fired at us to force us back into the laborious tasks," <em>TOI</em> quoted Sufiyan.</p><p>The article added that allegedly at least 60 Indian youth fell prey to this job fraud, with many among them yet to be rescued. All of them left India in December 2023, to work either as security personnel or helpers in Russia but were forcefully enlisted in the Russia-Ukraine war upon reaching Russia. </p>.<p>The men were forced to dig trenches and fire assault rifles. They were also trained to fire Kalashnikovs such as the AK-12 and AK-74, along with hand grenades and other explosives. Moreover, they hardly knew their exact location and were not allowed to keep in touch with their families back home. </p><p>"Our mobile phones were seized. For months during the training, I could not talk to my family," <em>TOI</em> quoted Abdul Nayeem from Karnataka. </p><p>Another resident of Kalaburagi in Karnataka, Syed Ilias Hussaini, said that they lived in the constant fear of being caught in the crossfire, "Every day we woke up not knowing if it would be our last. The sound of gunfire and explosions became a constant backdrop to our lives, and we lived in perpetual fear," Ilias told <em>TOI.</em></p><p>Sufiyan also recalled the death of a fellow Indian. "Hamil, a very good friend of mine from Gujarat, was blown to death in a drone attack. He was part of a team of 24 soldiers, including one Indian and one Nepali. It shook me up," he said.</p><p>"It was only after Hamil's death that we told our families about our situation, who then requested Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to rescue us from the warzone. I am glad to be able to see this day," he added.</p>