New Delhi: The Central Government formally informed the Supreme Court on Friday that forty-nine Indian nationals have lost their lives in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict after being recruited into the Russian armed forces. In a comprehensive status report submitted to the apex court, the federal government revealed that while dozens of citizens have been successfully repatriated through continuous diplomatic intervention, several others remain untraceable, missing in action, or structurally unaccounted for within the active war zone.
According to the high-profile regulatory report compiled by the Ministry of External Affairs, approximately 217 Indian nationals had joined the Russian military apparatus since the outbreak of hostilities. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the federal administration before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, stated that sustained diplomatic engagement with the Russian Federation has successfully secured the contractual discharge and safe release of 139 Indian citizens so far. However, the ground reality remains highly critical for the remaining families, with six individuals officially confirmed as missing by Russian military command, and the logistical status of twenty-three other nationals remaining completely unknown.
The judicial update was submitted during a formal bench hearing of a public interest petition filed by aggrieved family members seeking urgent federal intervention to locate and repatriate twenty-six specific Indian youth who were allegedly trapped in Russia. The legal petition highlighted a lucrative cross-border human trafficking and employment racket, detailing how vulnerable Indian citizens travelling on tourist, student, or transit visas between 2024 and 2025 were systematically lured by rogue recruitment agents. The traffickers reportedly induced the candidates by promising lucrative auxiliary jobs, a signing bonus of 5,000 US dollars, a monthly salary of 2,500 US dollars, fast-tracked Russian citizenship, and a substantial death compensation package worth 1,68,000 US dollars, only to forcefully conscript them into frontline combat formations upon arrival.
Of the twenty-six specific cases highlighted by the petitioners, the Centre verified that fourteen incidents unfortunately relate to confirmed casualties, eleven individuals have been designated as missing in action, and one citizen is currently serving an eight-year prison term in Russia on distinct criminal charges. To expedite the agonizing identification process of highly decomposed remains and track the unaccounted youths, the government confirmed that medical teams have collected DNA profiles from twenty-one immediate family members in India and dispatched them to forensic labs in Moscow. The bench ordered the Ministry of External Affairs to continue prioritizing the repatriation operations on a war footing and directed the state machinery to clamp down intensely on illegal overseas recruitment cartels exploiting Indian students and job seekers.
