A desperate ordeal has unfolded for four Indian nationals from Telangana who traveled to Russia for employment, only to find themselves entrapped inside a Russian armed forces camp. Originating from Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts, the group was deceived by a recruitment offer for civilian groundskeeping, only to face coercion, physical abuse, and involuntary combat preparation. With their military training nearing completion, the workers have sent distress communications to their families, urging both the central government and the Telangana state administration to take immediate diplomatic steps to secure their safe return home.
From Construction Helpers to Moscow Groundskeeping Trap
The ordeal began roughly six months ago when Bhukya Ravinder, Ashok, and Megawat Prakash from Nizamabad district, alongside Mohammed Afzal Khan from Kamareddy district, sought overseas opportunities. Each individual paid 3 lakh rupees to an employment agent to secure helper jobs in Moscow. After laboring in Russia for roughly six months, that employment concluded, leaving them without an income and desperately searching for fresh opportunities in an unfamiliar country.
While seeking sustenance, the workers spotted a wall advertisement promising garden cleaner vacancies at a military installation, advertising an attractive monthly salary of 2 lakh rupees. Struggling to make ends meet, the men called the phone number printed on the poster. An intermediary confirmed the availability of civilian garden maintenance work inside the camp, convincing them to proceed through his channel to the facility.
Held in a Forest Base and Coerced With Weapons
The situation took a harrowing turn the moment the men placed themselves in the hands of the operators. Military personnel transported them in service vehicles on an arduous journey lasting approximately 12 hours, eventually abandoning them in a dense forest enclave. According to accounts shared by the workers, basic necessities were withheld, with minimal food provided to them inside the base.
Instead of receiving gardening equipment, the four men were handed weapons and ordered to undertake rigorous combat training. When the workers protested to base officials, explaining that they were hired strictly to clean gardens and had never enlisted for military duties, their objections were met with physical beatings. Compelled under threat of further violence, they were forced into taking up arms instruction against their will.
Frontline Fears and Families Pleading for Diplomatic Action
Through recorded video messages and brief telephone calls managed from the camp, the trapped men conveyed alarming updates to their relatives. Supervisors at the site informed them that following the conclusion of their training regimen, they face immediate transfer to the Ukraine border zone. The workers expressed terror that deploying to an active battle theatre would cost them their lives, pleading for rapid intervention by authorities in India.
The revelations have triggered acute anguish across their hometowns. Mohammed Afzal Khan's father, Abbas Khan, along with Khan's wife and son, have called upon central authorities and the Telangana state government to initiate immediate discussions with their Russian counterparts to halt their dispatch and repatriate them safely. Parallel pleas have also emerged directly from Ashok, who continues to seek urgent rescue before the four men are pushed to the conflict perimeter.
