The Tragic Fate of Indian Youth Caught in the Russia-Ukraine War

January 13, 2026

Abhishek Vij

War is never welcome anywhere. It is a killer of humanity and brings a message of destruction for ordinary people. The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for almost three years. Despite the need for dialogue for a ceasefire and consultations between India and the US for peace, the war shows no sign of ending. Its brutality is increasing day by day.

Now let’s talk about the involvement of Indian youth in this war. Indian youth are not hopeful about their future in their own country, so they are always looking for opportunities to migrate abroad. Countries like the US, England, and Canada have already started tightening their rules and sending back immigrants to India. Russia is also one of the destinations for Indian youth seeking opportunities abroad.

Our young people go to Russia for a better life, hoping that the Russian ruble will improve their economic situation.
Currently, a fierce war is raging between Russia and Ukraine. To increase the number of soldiers, Russia has lured many young Indians who went there in search of employment and recruited them into the army. They are given weapons and sent to fight on the front lines. India has complained about this several times. There is no end to the complaints from families whose children went abroad for employment but were recruited into the army and sent to the front lines. Russia denies any such thing, but the reality is that Indian youth are recruited into the Russian army by offering them higher salaries and telling them that they will not be sent to the front lines but will be given other work. But the opposite happens.

Recently, a heartbreaking news came from Punjab. A Punjabi youth, Mandeep Singh, had left for Armenia on September 17, 2023, with a relative and three acquaintances. They had reached Armenia from Amritsar. For the first three months, they worked as laborers in Armenia. On December 9, 2023, they arrived in Russia. Mandeep’s companions, disillusioned, returned to India, but Mandeep stayed in Russia. He was lured into joining the Russian army. He was promised additional benefits but was sent to fight on the front lines. Mandeep Singh was shot and killed in the war.

This happened after March 3, 2024, because on that date, Mandeep had told his brother over the phone that he and other young men like him had been lured into the Russian army and that the government should rescue them and bring them back. His wish remained unfulfilled. He was shot and killed. Tragically, his family in Punjab kept demanding Mandeep’s body back, but the authorities returned his body only after a year. Even then, it was only after his family sent his brother’s DNA sample for matching that Mandeep’s body was finally returned a year later.

Mandeep’s brother, Jagdeep, went to Russia twice in 2025, in February and October, to bring back his brother’s body. This painful incident is being recounted to highlight the undeniable truth that young men who go there for employment are forcibly thrown into the war. This is not just Mandeep’s story; the list is long. Will the Indian youth continue to wander abroad in search of employment? Why aren’t respectable jobs created for them in India so that their families don’t have to wander from place to place searching for them later?