They were promised jobs in Russia. They ended up fighting in Ukraine.

Families of Indian migrant workers forced to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine say they feel they have no choice but to travel there to help them.

SRINAGAR, India — Across India, families are hearing similar stories from men who went abroad in search of work: They were lured to Russia with promises of jobs as cooks or housekeepers, only to find themselves forced to fight alongside the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.

Some families, frustrated by what they say is a lack of support from the Indian government, say they feel they have no choice but to travel to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to get their loved ones back.

“For months, the families have been awaiting government action to bring the Indian citizens back home, but so far no progress has been made,” Raja Begum, 65, told NBC News last month as she sat in the yard of her two-story home in Poshwan, a village in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Begum’s son Azad Yousuf Kumar, 31, left India for the United Arab Emirates in December. She said he had been promised a housekeeping job in Dubai by a consultant there identified as Faisal Khan, who often advertised such jobs on his YouTube channel, Baba Vlogs. In exchange for the job, Kumar paid a fee of 300,000 rupees, or $3,600, she said.

Once Kumar arrived, however, “he was informed that there were no available jobs in the UAE,” said Begum, who has been exchanging voice messages with him. Kumar told his mother that Khan said he could still get a job in another country, and convinced him to travel to Russia to work in a kitchen.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-india-migrant-workers-rcna148584

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