The long and painful wait for a grieving family from Punjab has finally come to a tragic end. The mortal remains of 28-year-old Mandeep Kumar, who was deceitfully recruited into the Russian army, arrived at his hometown of Goraya in Jalandhar district on Saturday.
A Brother's Desperate Search and a Tragic End
The heartbreaking journey concluded when Mandeep's elder brother, Jagdeep Kumar, received the body at the Delhi airport. Jagdeep had been searching for his brother for over a year, making two desperate trips to Russia in February and October 2025 and spending nearly three months there.
His worst fears were confirmed just two months ago when DNA samples he had provided to Russian authorities matched one of the deceased. "I came to know about the death of my brother two months back after my DNA samples given to the Russian authorities matched with one of the bodies," Jagdeep told PTI.
The last time the brothers spoke was a harrowing, brief call on March 3, 2024. The conversation lasted a mere 17-20 seconds, during which Mandeep, in a state of panic, begged his brother to rescue him from the war zone.
The Deceptive Journey from Job Promise to War Zone
The ordeal began in September 2023 when Mandeep, along with four other men, traveled to Armenia after being promised lucrative jobs in Italy by unscrupulous travel agents. Instead of Italy, they were taken to Russia and coerced into joining the country's military.
Making the situation even more egregious, Mandeep had a congenital leg defect, a condition that should have disqualified him from active combat. Despite this, he was forced into service and deployed to the front lines in Ukraine, where he was killed in a drone attack.
Demand for Justice and Wider Implications
Jagdeep Kumar is now demanding strict action against the travel agents who orchestrated this deadly deception. He also revealed a grim toll, stating that ten Indians have died while fighting for Russia against Ukraine. The casualties include three men from Punjab and seven from Uttar Pradesh and Jammu.
In response to such incidents, the Indian government took diplomatic action in September last year, demanding that Russia stop recruiting Indian nationals as military support staff. Authorities have also issued warnings to citizens about the dangers of joining foreign armies and have called for the release of all Indians currently serving in the Russian armed forces.
The return of Mandeep Kumar's body closes one chapter of a family's nightmare but opens wider questions about human trafficking networks exploiting young Indians with false promises, leading them into international conflicts.
