Following an incident in which two men from the Fatehabad district of Haryana were "deceitfully" pushed into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Congress leaders Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala have voiced their profound concern and called for action.
"Ankit Jangra (23) and Vijay Poonia (25) have been deceitfully pushed into the war on the Ukraine border," Selja claimed.
The Sirsa MP demanded immediate intervention of the Centre in the matter. In a statement on Thursday, the former Union minister said watching a video on social media of the two men from Kumharia village in Fatehabad was "extremely distressing". According to Surjewala, Jangra and Poonia entered Russia on a student visa but were tricked into joining the Russian army and sent to the conflict area near the Ukrainian border.
"Both have appealed for help from the Government of India through videos and WhatsApp calls," he said in a post on X, while urging the BJP-led Centre to take concrete steps to ensure the safe return of the duo.
Raghuvir, Ankit Jangra's brother, told reporters in Fatehabad that the former recently contacted him via video call and provided information about their predicament. "A few more Indians in the group were facing the same fate," Jangra, who six months prior had travelled to Moscow on a student visa for a Russian language course, told his brother.
They were duped by a woman in Moscow who promised them a security job that would pay Rs 2.5 lakh a month after three months of training. According to Jangra, they were also forced to sign a contract that was written in Russian.
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They were then forced into the Ukrainian forests after receiving Army uniforms and receiving training for a few days.
In her statement, Selja said, "This is not just a humanitarian crisis but also highlights the grim state of unemployment in Haryana.... This alarming situation is forcing the state's youth to go abroad in search of jobs, often landing them in dangerous and fraudulent circumstances." "This is not only about two families but about the future of the entire youth of the state," she said.
In order to safely return all stranded Indians to their homeland, including the two men, the Congress leader expressed hope that the Centre would step in right away and take decisive action. According to her, young people from Haryana have previously been stranded in the conflict zone between Russia and Ukraine. Many were caught on the Russian side of the conflict earlier as well.
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