Russia recruited citizens of 47 countries, including India, to fight in war in Ukraine, says Volodymyr Zelensky | Today’s news
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed that Russia is using the citizens of 47 countries in its ongoing war against his country. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (local time), Zelenskyy said that foreigners recruited to fight Russia’s war include citizens of India, Ghana, Nepal, Tajikistan, Yemen, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Sudan, South Africa and others.
“We also see people dying on the battlefield who are not Russians – people from your countries, 47 countries, who ended up in Russia by tricks and tricks,” Zelenskyy said.
“Don’t let Putin drag you into this war”
The Ukrainian president also directly addressed the heads of state and representatives of these countries present at the UN General Assembly and called on them not to get involved in the conflict.
You know what Russia is doing to your people, your citizens. Take care of them and don’t let them end up on another front. Don’t let Putin drag you into this war… Limit his room to negotiate, limit his money, limit his war.”
51 Indians died fighting for Russia
In May, the government told the Supreme Court that 217 Indian nationals joined the Russian army during the war in Ukraine, of which 139 were exempted from contractual agreements.
Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Vikram Misri said a total of 51 Indians had died in the war in Ukraine.
Misri said Delhi remained in talks with Moscow to secure the release and repatriation of the remaining Indians.
The families of those who were forced into the war claimed that their relatives were lured by promises of high-paying civilian jobs in Russia and did not know they were being recruited into the war.
The Indian government has also repeatedly warned against accepting risky job offers overseas and is actively negotiating the return of all remaining personnel through the Indian embassy in Moscow.
Stop funding Russia and the war will end: Zelenskyi
During his speech at the UN General Assembly, Zelenskyi also told world leaders that Vladimir Putin was the only obstacle to ending the “ridiculous and never-ending war” and called on nations large and small to pressure the Russian president for peace by strangling the country’s revenues and hindering its war effort.
“Our goal is Russia’s ability to finance this war, to prolong it, to make it more brutal and more destructive,” Zelenskyy said at the annual global gathering of the UN General Assembly. “Russian finance and Russian manufacturing are what must be stopped if Putin is to be stopped.”
When Russia gets money from trade, “it always says no to diplomacy,” Zelenskyy argued, “so Russian revenue must remain the target.
