Indians in the Russian Army: The Fake Job Offers Behind It

Asking about Indians in the Russian army often means someone close to you has a job offer from Russia, or has gone quiet after taking one. This page is for families and job seekers who want the facts first.

Yes, Indian men have ended up fighting in Russia's war in Ukraine, and many of them say they were recruited with fake job offers for "army helper", "security guard", cook or kitchen work. In its status report filed in India's Supreme Court on 12 October 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said about 267 Indians had joined the Russian armed forces. Of them, 51 had died, 139 had been discharged, and the government was still trying to trace 77, including seven that Russia confirmed as missing (Economic Times, 14 October 2026; News18, 15 October 2026). In March 2024, India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it had busted a trafficking network that lured young men with "lucrative jobs" in Russia (BBC, 8 March 2024).

That is the short answer. If someone has offered you, your son or your brother a well-paid job in Russia, read the rest before any money moves.

Imagine you are 24 and you have been looking for work for a year. A YouTube video shows a man on a Russian street talking about jobs with the army: not fighting, he says, only helping. Clearing rubble. Cooking. The salary is three times what you earn at home, and there is talk of a Russian passport.

Your family borrows the agent's fee. You fly from Chennai to Dubai, then to Moscow. A few days later you sign a contract in Russian, a language you cannot read. Your phone and passport are taken. Two weeks later you are given a rifle.

This page sets out what is on the public record, and the checks that keep you out.

Key facts about Indians in the Russian army

Were the "army helper" jobs in Russia real?

The contracts were real military contracts. The men who signed them say they were told something very different about the work.

The best-documented recruiter is a YouTube channel called Baba Vlogs. VOA reported that videos on the channel, which had over 305,000 subscribers, promised "army helper" jobs in Russia, "asserting that those who take up the offer will not be asked to fight in the war" (VOA, 8 March 2024). Al Jazeera described one job video shot on the streets of Saint Petersburg, posted in October 2023, that promised "the prospect of Russian citizenship" after six months of service (Al Jazeera, 14 March 2024).

According to Firstpost, citing The Indian Express, the videos said the army needed manpower to clear demolished buildings and look after arms and ammunition, with no risk (Firstpost, 9 March 2024).

On 8 March 2024 the MEA said: "Several Indian nationals have been duped to work with the Russian Army." It appealed to Indians "to not be swayed by offers made by agents for support jobs with the Russian Army. This is fraught with danger and risk to life" (MEA statement, quoted by Firstpost, 9 March 2024).

The CBI went further. It said the trafficked men "were trained in combat roles and deployed at front bases in Russia-Ukraine War Zone against their wishes" (CBI statement, quoted by CNN, 10 July 2024), and that "some of the victims also got grievously injured in the war zone" (CBI press release, quoted by Jurist, 8 March 2024).

So a "helper" job with the Russian army is a job inside an army at war. Whatever the agent says, the contract is a military contract.

How the recruitment works, step by step

Reports from 2024 to 2026 show the same pattern.

1. The video or the message. The CBI said traffickers used "social media channels like YouTube etc. and also their local contacts/agents" (The Hindu, 7 May 2024).
2. The safe-sounding job. "Army helper", security guard, cook, kitchen helper or driver. Later reports describe construction jobs (WION, 11 September 2025), and in 2026 cooking, factory and packing jobs (Times of India, 7 October 2026).
3. The fee. Paid to the agent in advance, often with borrowed money.
4. The wrong visa. No proper work visa and no registered recruiter. Some travelled through Dubai or Sharjah. In December 2025, The Hindu reported that two Indians killed in the war had gone to Russia on student visas after agents promised work "as cleaners and helpers" (The Hindu, 18 December 2025).
5. The contract you cannot read. One family told Al Jazeera their relative was forced, after he arrived, to sign a contract written in Russian, a language he did not know (14 March 2024).
6. Passport and phone taken. In October 2026 the Supreme Court noted the families' allegation that authorities "seized their passports and other documents upon arrival in Russia" (New Indian Express, 14 October 2026).
7. Short training, then the front. One family described two weeks of military training before deployment (VOA, 8 March 2024). Amnesty International found that "most enlistees" it interviewed were "deployed to active combat zones after just two weeks of training" (Amnesty International, 10 September 2026).

There is a second route. Frontline reported in January 2026 that some men from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were promised jobs in Europe or Malaysia, then moved to Russia, held over alleged document problems and pressured to sign military contracts (Frontline, 10 January 2026). Amnesty found that migrants who overstayed visas in Russia were offered enlistment "as a favourable alternative to detention and deportation" (10 September 2026).

Ask yourself one question. Why would a real employer need you to fly through a third country, on a visa that does not allow you to work?

How many Indians are in the Russian army, and how many died?

The numbers grew because people kept going. Here is what the government said, with dates.

The often-searched "44 Indians" figure comes from the MEA briefing on 7 November 2025, where spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: "We have repeatedly cautioned that such offers are fraught with danger to life. Despite our warnings, some continue to enlist" (The Tribune, 8 November 2025).

Some families believe the real number is higher. One man who searched Russia for his brother told Frontline he estimates 800 to 900 (Frontline, 10 January 2026). The government has not confirmed that.

Who is behind the recruitment?

Being named in a police case is an allegation, not a finding of guilt.

The CBI case. The CBI registered a case on 6 March 2024 against private visa consultancy firms and agents, and searched premises in seven cities the next day. It recovered about Rs 50 lakh in cash, documents and electronic devices, and said it had established "around 35 instances of victims sent abroad" (The Indian Express, 7 March 2024).

A CBI spokesperson named the accused firms, including "M/s 24×7 RAS Overseas Foundation, KG Marg, New Delhi, and its director Suyash Mukut; M/s O.S.D Bros Travels & Visa Services Pvt Ltd., Mumbai, and its director Rakesh Pandey; M/s Adventure Visa Services Pvt Ltd., Chandigarh, Punjab, and its director Manjeet Singh; and Baba Vlogs Overseas Recruitment Solutions Pvt Ltd., Dubai, and its director Faisal Abdul Mutalib Khan alias Baba" (The Indian Express, 7 March 2024). These are accused in an FIR. We found no conviction of any of them as of November 2026.

The arrests. By 7 May 2024 the CBI had arrested four people from Thiruvananthapuram, Kanyakumari and Mumbai. It alleged that one "worked as a translator on contract basis in Russia", one arranged visas in Chennai and air tickets, and two were "the main recruiters of Indian nationals from Kerala and Tamil Nadu" (The Hindu, 7 May 2024). The CBI also alleged that agents enrolled Indians in "dubious private universities in Russia". We found no public record of a trial verdict as of November 2026.

The YouTuber's response. Faisal Khan, the man behind Baba Vlogs, told The Indian Express that he sent 35 people to Russia, that handlers there told him they would not go to the front lines, and that he himself was a victim. He said what happened in Russia was beyond his control, that the men knew the risks, and that he had no intention to deceive. He told News18 that nothing he had done was "illegal" (both as reported by Firstpost, 9 March 2024). He did not respond to VOA or Al Jazeera.

Russia's side. Russian law lets foreigners join its army on a Defence Ministry contract, and a January 2024 decree speeds up citizenship for foreigners who enlist (AP via ABC27, 25 January 2024). According to Russia's embassy in New Delhi, the Russian defence ministry stopped recruiting Indians in April 2024 (Scroll, 8 November 2025). But The Hindu reported in December 2025 that Indians "continue to be enlisted" despite that assurance.

The wider pattern. Amnesty International concluded in September 2026 that Russia's recruitment of foreigners "in many cases" amounts to human trafficking under the UN's Palermo Protocol. It found that "local agents and misleading online job advertisements have been instrumental in deceiving foreign nationals in their home countries" (Amnesty International, 10 September 2026).

The money: who pays and who gets paid

Your family pays the agent. The promised salary is what pulls people in.

What families paid.

• About $3,600 per person in late 2023 and early 2024, according to two families who spoke to Al Jazeera, in one case partly in cash at Mumbai airport (Al Jazeera, 14 March 2024).
• An "initial fee of Rs 3 lakh", according to the Baba Vlogs videos as reported by Firstpost (9 March 2024).
• Rs 2.5 lakh "towards visa and related expenses" for a promised cooking job in 2026 (Times of India, 7 October 2026).
• Rs 31 lakh raised by mortgaging a home, in a case where the promised destination was Italy (Frontline, 10 January 2026).

Compare that with the legal limit. Under the Emigration Act, 1983, a registered recruiting agent in India can charge a worker no more than Rs 30,000 plus 18% GST, and must give a receipt (MEA advisory via Embassy of India, Tashkent, 21 April 2025). Every fee above is many times that.

What was promised.

• Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month after three months of training, plus a "government card" leading to residency (Baba Vlogs videos, as reported by Firstpost, 9 March 2024).
• $1,800 a month, according to one family (Al Jazeera, 14 March 2024).

For context, CNN reported in July 2024 that Russia had announced a package for foreign fighters including "a monthly salary of at least $2,000 and a fast track to Russian citizenship" (CNN, 10 July 2024).

Where the money went. Amnesty found that many recruits "were promised lucrative salaries and sign-up bonuses that were not fulfilled", and "many reported receiving nothing at all" (10 September 2026). Families in Uttar Pradesh alleged to Frontline that agents controlled bank accounts opened in the recruits' names (Frontline, 10 January 2026).

Compensation after a death. As of October 2026, the government told the Supreme Court that Russia had processed six compensation claims, five in full and one in part. The court said all 51 families have the right to seek compensation (New Indian Express, 14 October 2026).

Look at it from the agent's side. The fee is paid in India, in advance. Whatever happens in Russia, that money is already gone.

It is not only India: Nepal, Sri Lanka and Africa

The same offer has reached other countries.

Nepal. On 5 January 2024 Nepal banned its citizens from going to Russia or Ukraine for work, after reports that Nepalis in the Russian army had been killed (AP, 5 January 2024). On 25 January 2024 Nepal's foreign minister said the Russian army was estimated to have recruited more than 200 Nepalis and at least 14 had died. AP reported that those who reached Russia were believed to have travelled through a third country, posing as tourists (AP via ABC27, 25 January 2024).

Sri Lanka. On 15 May 2024 Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister said an inquiry had identified 288 retired soldiers taking part in the war, and at least 16 had been killed. He did not say which side they fought on, but a ruling party lawmaker said most had joined the Russian army and were "duped with promises of high salaries and falsely told they would be given non-combat roles". Police arrested two retired army officers for illegally acting as recruiting agents (AFP via Arab News, 15 May 2024). AFP later reported that WhatsApp ads aimed at retired soldiers promised more than $2,100 a month (AFP via France 24, 11 June 2024).

Kenya. In February 2026 Kenya's foreign minister, Musalia Mudavadi, said Kenya had closed more than 600 recruitment agencies suspected of duping people with overseas job offers (BBC, 10 February 2026). A National Intelligence Service report presented in Kenya's National Assembly on 12 February 2026 said more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited. Recruits were offered roughly $2,400 a month and a one-time bonus of $6,200 to $8,300 (ISS Africa, 21 May 2026). The Russian embassy in Kenya denied accusations that its officials worked with recruiters (same report).

Amnesty interviewed people from Sierra Leone, Somalia and South Africa who said they were promised civilian jobs in security, logistics, construction and IT (10 September 2026). One South African man applied online for a driving job in Poland and was told to fly to Moscow to collect a truck. When he arrived, his wife said, "everything was taken from him".

The job title changes from country to country. The route does not.

What the Indian government has done

• Warnings and the CBI case. Repeated MEA warnings since February 2024 (Jurist, 8 March 2024), and the CBI case described above.
• Talks with Russia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue with President Putin in Moscow in July 2024, and India said "the Russian side promised early discharge of all Indian nationals" (BBC, 10 July 2024). In November 2025 the MEA said it had again asked Russia to release Indians still serving and to end the practice of recruiting them (The Tribune, 8 November 2025).
• A new warning about volunteers. On 30 September 2026 the MEA said it had seen "numerous instances wherein individuals are willingly seeking out offers to join the Russian armed forces" expecting money and a later release with India's help. "It is reiterated that this is a dangerous path," it said, and it advised Indians to be careful with job offers from agents who are not registered with the MEA (News18, 15 October 2026).
• The Supreme Court. On 31 July 2026 the Supreme Court told the government to appoint a nodal officer in the MEA for families of Indians who died, went missing or were injured. On 14 October 2026 it asked the MEA to consider a public notice inviting families to seek compensation, and directed free legal aid for families in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (New Indian Express, 14 October 2026).

Red flags you can check yourself

Run the offer through our free checker before you pay anything or reply to the agent again. It flags the warning signs above, such as an offer that came through WhatsApp, a fee paid to the agent and no work visa.

How to check a job offer in Russia, and the agent

1. Check the agent on eMigrate. Every registered recruiting agent in India has a licence number. Go to emigrate.gov.in and open "List of active RA". The MEA says a licence is "mandatory for any recruitment for work abroad" (MEA advisory, 21 April 2025). If the agent is not on the list, stop. Our tool to check a recruitment agency walks you through it.
2. Check the fee. Rs 30,000 plus GST is the legal maximum, paid by cheque or demand draft, with a receipt. Our guide to recruitment agency fees and migration debt explains how fees above that trap workers.
3. Ask for the contract before you fly. The MEA says a valid job offer comes with an employment contract "duly signed by Foreign Employer, recruitment Agent and the emigrant worker", stating the job and the salary (MEA advisory, 21 April 2025). Make sure it is in a language you can read.
4. Ask for the work visa. A tourist, student or visit visa "for now" means it is not a legal job.
5. Know that the airport will not stop you. Russia is not one of the 18 ECR countries, so there is no emigration clearance check for a job there, even if your passport is ECR. Our guide to ECR passports and eMigrate explains the list. The check that protects you is the one you do yourself.
6. Call the MEA helpline. The Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra answers on 1800 11 3090 (toll free from India) or +91-11-2688-5021 (MEA advisory, 21 April 2025).
7. Check the employer. Our step-by-step guide on how to verify an overseas job offer shows how to test a company and an offer letter in any country.

If someone you love is already there

• Contact the MEA. Use the Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra (1800 11 3090 from India, WhatsApp +91-7428 3211 44) and the Office of the Protector General of Emigrants in New Delhi (MEA advisory, 21 April 2025). Give the full name, passport number, date of travel, the agent's name and the last known location.
• Save every piece of evidence. The video or ad, chats with the agent, payment receipts, flight tickets, voice messages and any photos of documents.
• Report the agent. File a police complaint at home, and send a copy to the Protector General of Emigrants.
• Ask about DNA samples and legal aid. If a relative is missing or reported dead, the MEA has been sharing family DNA samples with Russia to identify remains (The Hindu, 18 December 2025). In some states, the Supreme Court has directed free legal aid for families (New Indian Express, 14 October 2026).

The honest lesson

The men in these stories were not foolish. They needed work, and someone sold them a story that fitted that need: a safe job, a good salary, a passport.

What protects you is the slow, boring part of a real job abroad. A licensed agent you can find on eMigrate. A fee you can afford and a receipt. A contract you can read before you fly. A work visa. A real job can wait a week while you check. A trap always needs you to hurry.

If an offer fails any of the checks above, do not pay. Forward it to the MEA helpline, and to the friend who sent it to you.

Frequently asked questions

How many Indians are in the Russian army?

In its status report filed on 12 October 2026, the MEA said about 267 Indians had joined the Russian armed forces. Of them, 139 had been discharged, 51 had died, and the government was trying to trace 77, including seven that Russia confirmed as missing. Earlier, on 7 November 2025, the MEA said 44 Indians were then serving.

How many Indians have been killed in the Russian army?

The MEA said 51 Indians had died, according to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on 31 August 2026 and the MEA's status report to the Supreme Court in October 2026. The number was 12 in January 2025 and 26 in December 2025.

Are Russian army helper jobs for Indians real?

The contracts are real military contracts, but the jobs were not what agents described. The CBI said men recruited for "highly paid jobs in Russia" were trained for combat and sent to the front against their wishes. The MEA says offers of support jobs with the Russian army are "fraught with danger and risk to life".

What did the CBI find in the Russia trafficking case?

On 7 March 2024 the CBI searched premises in seven cities, recovered about Rs 50 lakh and established around 35 cases of people sent abroad. It named visa consultancy firms and agents as accused in an FIR, and arrested four people by 7 May 2024. These are charges and allegations. We found no conviction as of November 2026.

Does Russia still recruit Indians?

Russia's embassy in New Delhi said Russia stopped recruiting Indians in April 2024. But Indians kept enlisting, the MEA asked Russia again in November 2025 to end the practice, and in September 2026 it warned that some Indians were seeking contracts on their own.

How do I check if a job offer in Russia is genuine?

Check that the agent is on the eMigrate list of active recruiting agents, pay no more than Rs 30,000 plus GST with a receipt, and get a signed contract in a language you read before you travel. Travel only on a work visa, never a tourist or student visa. Russia is not an ECR country, so no airport officer will check the job for you. Call the MEA helpline on 1800 11 3090 if you are unsure.

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