SRINAGAR: The families of two Kashmiri youths, who were lured to Dubai on the promise of jobs and then deceitfully despatched to Russia to take part in the war against Ukraine, have appealed to PM Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar to intervene and help bring back their wards.
Azad Yousuf Kumar (31) of Awantipora in Pulwama and Zahoor Ahmad Sheikh (30) of Tangdar in Kupwara are among many Indians trapped in Russia and forced to fight as mercenaries.
The duo, like several others, was ensnared by one Faisal Khan, a Dubai-based YouTuber, said Nasir Khuehami, convenor of Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association.
Azad managed to contact his family after he sustained some injuries in the fight at the Russia-Ukraine border. His family said he left home last Dec to secure a job in Dubai. Once he landed in Dubai, he was made to sign a contract in Russian and then sent to Russia to participate in the conflict. He has a four-month-old baby.
Khuehami said Zahoor also travelled to Russia in Dec 2023 along with two others, Arbaab from Uttar Pradesh, and Asfaan from Hyderabad, and is untraced.
J&K’s former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, in a post on X, said Azad’s family “is extremely distressed & worried about his safety”, and requested Jaishankar and MEA to facilitate his return.
The MEA has already stated that it was pursuing all the relevant case with the Russian authorities.
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