Nepali men are being trafficked into Russia’s war against Ukraine | ABC News

Videos like this one showing Nepali citizens joining the Russian army started popping up on social media last year. They contain mostly excited young men answering the call, carrying out training exercises, showing off weaponry, and because it's TikTok, sometimes even dancing. It's estimated thousands of Nepali men have now taken up arms to fight on behalf of Russia in the Ukraine war. Leading the Nepali government to ban its citizens from enlisting. But that hasn't stopped the videos or the recruits. And it got me thinking, why would these men leave their homes and risk their lives for a country they have no allegiance to? What were they promised? Since I'm based out of the ABC's bureau in India, I decided to head to Nepal with Soum, our producer, to find out what is going on. I'm in Nepal, where I've come to try to answer some crucial questions. Who are these people that are going over to Russia? What happens once they get there? How are they getting there? What are the legalities around this? I'm on my way to meet a woman who claims to know the answers to some of these questions. She lives in a small rural community, a couple of hours from the capital. Late last year, her only son went to fight for Russia. My name is Ganga Dhakal. I'm not educated, so I don't know much about this. Her son's name is Siddharth, and he's 22 years old. He grew up in this hill village, nestled between the mountains. He wanted to go to Russia to pursue a university degree. I have a son, and I want to go to Russia. Why should I go? I don't want to worry about what will happen in the future. Ganga tells me she borrowed around 900,000 Nepali rupees, about $10,000, from their farming cooperative, and deposited it into the account associated with an immigration agent they knew. It was meant to cover expenses till Siddharth got a job. But when he got to Moscow, there was no agent, and all that money his parents had taken a loan on was gone. The next time his parents heard from him was in this video. Hello everyone. I've been in Russia for about two months now. I was very sad when I came to Russia. They see us as wild animals. It's very difficult for us to survive there. Some of my friends have died. Siddharth has been captured by the Ukrainians and is being held as a prisoner of war. He's been contactless since then. I don't know what to do. Hundreds of men from remote villages like this one, four hours west of Kathmandu, to the country's big cities, are joining the Russian army. Many attracted by the promise of higher pay and better opportunities for their families. But their plans are ending in tragedy. These guys aren't just going missing or getting injured. They're also getting captured by Ukrainian forces and dying. Unlike Siddharth, Rajkumar Giri had intended to join the Russian army. He'd been a police officer in Tubi for more than eight years, before signing up with the Russians last September. He was killed in late December. We're headed to Chitwan, a sleepy town in Nepal's lowlands, to meet his family. Sharmila is devastated and angry. She was against her husband's plan to join the Russian army and even sent him around $5,000 so he could come back to Nepal from Dubai. But he bought a ticket to Russia instead. Sharmila tells me her husband took the risk because he was promised around $2,000 a month. That's more than double what some of these guys make in a year. But in the three months since his death, the family hasn't seen a cent. She's also desperate for the Russian government to return her husband's remains to her. Nepal is known for its high peaks, sacred temples and charming hill villages. But it's also a country that is struggling to create opportunities for its youth. After a devastating earthquake and COVID, its developing economy has taken major hits. One in five Nepalis live below the poverty line. Youth unemployment is almost at 20%. And on average every day, 1,500 young people leave Nepal to find jobs overseas. It's unclear exactly how many Nepali men have gone over to fight for Russia. Fighters and activists I've spoken to say the figure could be higher than 3,000. I've been given this confidential document that shows only 240 families have notified Nepal's foreign ministry of missing family members. At the time I received it, the list showed that 12 men had died in combat. Nine more have died since. Close to half the list remains contactless. Six have been captured as prisoners of war. Thirteen were hospitalised or injured. Three are in the active war zone. Ninety-three men were recently recruited. And just ten are on their way back to Nepal. So far we've been speaking to families of soldiers who are either missing, captured or have died. But I want to try and talk to someone who can tell me what life is actually like in the Russian training camps and out on the front lines in Ukraine. And I think we've found someone. I'm going to try and see if he'll talk to us. Krishna Bahadushai is one of the handful who've been able to make it out alive. But his wounds run deep. We had to cut down trees in the jungle to make a place to live. We made a bunker and put a roof over it. We did that for two days and then we went to Ukraine. Krishna says a few days later he turned up to what he thought was another day of shooting practice. When suddenly Ukrainian drones began attacking from above. He says they hadn't been told when they reached the conflict zone. I didn't know where they were coming from. I didn't know if they were coming from there. So I went there. They attacked me from all sides. So I kept fighting and fighting. The building was like that. So I kept fighting and I went there. The bunker I was in before, I went there. There was a commander there. I thought I would survive. I had a gun in my hand. I was bleeding. I didn't know. I didn't get any water. So I went to the bunker. They didn't let me in. Krishna says he limped four kilometres to the nearest hospital in Russian-held territory, where he was given basic treatment. I thought about going to the hospital two or three times a night. My wife would call me all night to see if I was doing anything wrong. She convinced me not to go to the hospital. She said she would take care of everything. She would call me all night to see if I was doing anything wrong. I did, I did, I did. I couldn't sleep. That meant bribing the same network of people who had tricked Krishna into enlisting in the Russian army in the first place, including taxi drivers, consular officials and local police. He spent a total of $20,000, but was able to get back to Kathmandu by late January. He's been going to this hospital for physiotherapy ever since. In January, Nepal's government banned its citizens from going to Russia or Ukraine for work to stop them from enlisting. But investigations by Nepali authorities have revealed an organised syndicate of agents who helped traffic these men into the countries anyway. Nineteen people, including one woman, have been arrested so far. Some of them found with large amounts of cash, some of them found with large amounts of cash, several passports and false documentation. Agents, consular office, even our, you know, the police. Police also sometimes, you know, in bureaucratic process, they will get some sort of money. So this is how the scam works. An agent or recruiter approaches you with some kind of job or education opportunity in Russia. They say they'll look after everything. All you need to do is deposit tens of thousands of dollars into their nominated bank account. A travel agent gets you into a city like Dubai or Kuala Lumpur, places where it's fairly easy for Nepalis to get a tourist visa. Then an intermediary prepares false documents and books your next leg to Russia. And once you get there, the agents change their initial offer and present you with an opportunity to join the Russian army. N.P. Saud was Nepal's foreign minister till earlier this month. He says he's been in regular contact with his Russian counterpart about the issue. Do you think on some level it is a failure of your government or previous governments that so many young people of this country are going and fighting and dying for another country? I'm telling you that the unemployment rate in Russia is very low. It's very low. Despite the minister's assurances, fighters trapped in Russia have lost faith in their own government and are now appealing to India for help. Nepal is a beautiful country of striking landscapes and kind, devout people. But what struck me was just how much it seems to be struggling, from its lack of infrastructure to scarce job opportunities. It's understandable why so many young Nepalis want to leave to achieve the life they want. Nepal has this celebrated history of sending their ferocious Gurkha warriors to fight in foreign wars. They've been fighting with the British and Indian armies since the 1800s. But what's happening now isn't the same. After speaking with some of these men and hearing about the horrific conditions they were forced to fight in, and when the worst does happen, there's no communication, no body and no compensation.