nepalese-youth-drafted-in-russian-army-reluctant-to-return-home-russian-envoy-novikov

Aleksei Novikov, the Russian Ambassador to Nepal, said on Monday that many Nepalese citizens who illegally entered Russia to join its army do not want to return home.

 

The Russian ambassador discussed the issue with Minister for Finance Barshaman Pun, who formally requested the Russian government to aid the safe return of those Nepali citizens enrolled in the Russian military forces.

 

Pun, voiced his concern about the several reports indicating the recruitment of Nepali youth into the Russian Army without bilateral.

 

He asked the Russian government to facilitate the safe return of those recruited, according to Finance Ministry officials.

 

He pointed out that “At least 19 Nepalese youth have died while serving in the Russian Army and fighting with Russia in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.”

 

Pun urged Russia's attention to enable the environment to return the corpses of Nepalese slain in the Russia-Ukraine War, treating the injured, and compensating grieving families.

 

Commenting on the matter, the Russian Ambassador replied that the “Nepalese government is not responsible for the recruitment of Nepalese into the Russian army, adding that the Russian government had not coerced them to join its army.”

 

He added that those Nepalese travel illegally, through India and Dubai and do so out of their own free will. In his strong remarks, he told the Nepalese finance Minister that “Nepalese men are unwilling to return home.”

 

He further said that his country is seeking the release of the youth (Nepalese) captured by the Ukrainian forces during the war.

 

Meanwhile, The Ukrainian forces recently released images of five Nepalese youths who were taken hostage while fighting against Ukraine on the side of the Russian military.

 

However, As per Nepalese foreign Ministry spokesperson Amrit Bahadur Rai, 270 Nepalese youths who joined the Russian Army have applied to the consular division of the Nepalese Embassy in Moscow to ensure their safe return. Around 50 of them have already gone home, he added.

 

According to some media reports, about 600 Nepalese youth have joined Russia's army, since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began.