Indian recruits in Russian Army: Telangana youth Mohammed Sufiyan recalls time in battlefield

Mohammed Sufiyan returns home to Telangana; recalls his harrowing experience in the battlefield during the Russia-Ukraine war.

Mohammed Sufiyan recalls being confined in a tiny bunker with the constant, ominous buzzing of surveillance drones flying overhead. The intermittent bursts of automatic weapons fire across the Ukraine-Russia border further added to the uncertainty of life. When the news of his discharge arrived, he could hardly believe it, he recalls.

The 24-year-old, who was cheated into travelling to Russia and fighting alongside Russian armed forces, returned to Hyderabad in the afternoon on Friday (September 13, 2024) after eight months of war, which seemed an eternity. After an emotional reunion with his family, they drove to their home in Narayanpet in Telangana.

“We were posted at Krynky, and another place, which saw heavy fighting. I could hear missiles being fired, and being dropped. There were so many times that drones were flying overhead. There was absolute uncertainty about what would happen to me. But I have faith in Allah, and I was given a new life,” Mr. Sufiyan told The Hindu.

Mr. Sufiyan says he was made to dig trenches and tunnels, and construct bunkers in the thick dense forests. “I used to cut logs, dig 14-feet holes and make bunkers. We also loaded ammunition into trucks which then went to soldiers on the frontlines. To threaten us, they fired shots around us. It was torture,” he says.

But it was after Hemil Ashvinbhai Mangukiya’s death — the 23-year-old from Gujarat was hired as a helper for the Russian Army and was killed during the war — Mr. Sufiyan and those with him decided to petition the Indian government, via a video, to bring them back home. The video was widely shared on social media.

“I spoke to Hemil only twice. We were not allowed to use phones there. After he was killed, the officers did not give us much work thinking that we were deeply affected. But, after a month they began telling us to go to the frontlines. They said that food and other supplies had to be delivered to soldiers,” Mr. Sufiyan says.

“While we were working, the commander unexpectedly told us that our contract to serve was cancelled. I could not believe it. We continued to work in the morning. They then took us in Army vehicles about 200km where we camped in the forest. We had to be careful of drones, which could give out our location. On September 10 we were at the Indian Embassy in Moscow where the Indian government arranged for our return,” he says.