44 Indians serving in Russian military; India once again urges Moscow to release them

The number of Indian citizens serving in the Russian Army has increased to 44 due to recruitment in recent months, India said on Friday, November 7, 2025.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it had discussed the issue with Moscow and urged them to stop recruiting Indians into the Russian army.

“We have been informed that a large number of Indian citizens have been recruited into the Russian army in the last few months,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal.

“From our understanding, there are currently 44 Indian citizens serving in the Russian Army,” he said at his weekly media briefing.

Indian officials announced in September that 27 Indians were serving in the Russian army.

Mr. Jaiswal said India had discussed the issue with Russian officials and urged them to “release Indians as soon as possible and put an end to this practice.”

“We are in contact with the Russian side. We are also in contact with the families of these people and provide them with updated information on the issue,” he said.

There are reports that some Indians on student and business visas are being forced to join Russian military units serving on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.

India has repeatedly demanded that Russia release all Indians serving as support personnel such as cooks and assistants in Russian military units.

The issue was also brought up during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia last year.

Mr. Jaiswal urged Indians to stay away from offers to serve in the Russian Army as they are “fraught with danger to life”.

“We have said this many times. Despite our repeated reminders, people continue to enlist. If someone wants to do it, we cannot stop them, but we continue to press that you must be aware of the dangers that exist when you sign up for these jobs,” Mr. Jaiswal said.

According to official data, the number of Indians recruited by the Russian army has reached 170. Of these, 96 were demobilized by Russian authorities, while 16 were listed as missing.

At least 12 Indians have been killed fighting on the front lines of the conflict in Ukraine.