Why are Indian and Nepalese men on the front lines in Ukraine? – podcast

Hemul Mangakia grew up in Surat, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat. At 23, he was looking for opportunities and a way to make his mark on the world. So when he came across a YouTube video posted by a recruiting agent in St. Petersburg, Russia, he was intrigued. The man in the video said there were vacancies for security guards in the historic town. The salary was £2,000 per month. The opportunity was too good to miss.

As Hannah Ellis Petersen, the Guardian correspondent in South Asia, says Michel Safi, it’s a scene that has played out hundreds, if not thousands, of times in recent months. The young men, mainly from India and Nepal, fly to Russia with the promise of lucrative work and are then forced to sign a different type of contract: one that enlists them in the Russian army and pushes them to the front line of the war in Ukraine. , where many are currently dying. Hemul Mangakia’s body was repatriated to India last week.

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