The Ukraine war claims Nepalese victims
Russia’s recruitment of foreign fighters has led to fraud and human trafficking in countries in the global South and brought thousands of people from low-income countries to the war front in Ukraine.
Recruits are often promised well-paid menial jobs as cooks or cleaners and must pay high travel and immigration fees before being sent to a war zone.
Why we wrote this
Russia has sent thousands of foreign “helpers” to the front lines of the Ukraine war – including many from Nepal, where the families of missing recruits are searching for answers. Their struggle underscores the importance of finding closure and taking responsibility.
In Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, they have left behind painful puzzles.
There are estimated to be between 3,000 and 15,000 Nepalis fighting in Ukraine. Activists for the families of missing recruits say they have details of more than 600 Nepalis who have joined the Russian army. They include Bhuwan Pun, a former teacher who was hired as a “helper” last year. His family has not heard from him since September.
The Nepalese government has banned Russian recruitment and called on Russia to repatriate the bodies of those killed in the war, but local politician Kritu Bhandari wants more.
“It is the government’s responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens. Our government is failing in its responsibility,” said Ms. Bhandari, a leading lawyer for the families of Nepali fighters. “They have let hundreds of men die in this brutal war.”
For months, Roji Pun has been regularly visiting the Russian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Each time, with her 21-month-old son in tow, she knocks on the gate of the high-walled compound and asks the same desperate question: Where is my husband?
Bhuwan Pun’s family has not heard from him since he joined the Russian army as a “helper” last September. He is one of thousands of Nepali men lured to the north by a lucrative package Moscow offered to foreign recruits last year.
Why we wrote this
Russia has sent thousands of foreign “helpers” to the front lines of the Ukraine war – including many from Nepal, where the families of missing recruits are searching for answers. Their struggle underscores the importance of finding closure and taking responsibility.
Russia’s aggressive efforts to recruit foreign fighters have led to scams and human trafficking in countries in the global South, including India and Cuba. Recruits are often promised menial jobs as army aide, cooks or cleaners and are required to pay hefty travel and immigration fees before being sent to the front lines of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
In Nepal, they have left behind broken families and painful secrets. While the government has banned the recruitment of Russian mercenaries in Nepal, which has slowed the influx of mercenaries, local politician and activist Kritu Bhandari believes the leadership is not doing enough to “save our brothers.”
“It is the government’s responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens. Our government is failing in its responsibility,” said Ms. Bhandari, a leading lawyer for the families of Nepali fighters. “They have let hundreds of men die in this brutal war.”
In the meantime, she and other activists are calling on the Russian authorities to allow the Nepalese fighters to return home “for humanitarian reasons.”
Russia’s war needs
The war in Ukraine is a difficult affair for Russia. Various intelligence agencies estimate that the Kremlin suffered an average of more than 1,000 casualties per day in May, the highest number of casualties since the beginning of the war. Initial reports suggest that June was equally catastrophic.
To sustain its offensives – and maintain the government’s popularity – Moscow has mobilised prisoners, deployed foreign mercenary groups, recruited troops from former Soviet republics and launched a global recruitment campaign that has sent thousands of soldiers from low-income countries to the front.
Courtesy of Bhuwan Pun’s family
Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the World Bank, the unemployment rate is 11.1 percent and more than 15 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Lack of economic opportunities forces 1,700 Nepalis to leave the landlocked Himalayan country every day. According to the 2021 census, nearly 2.1 million Nepalis live outside Nepal, 7.4% of the total population, most of whom work in the informal sector. The war between Russia and Ukraine has become a new attraction.
There are no exact figures on the number of Nepalis fighting in Ukraine. One prisoner of war recently told Ukrainian authorities that he saw about 200 Nepalis during his brief time in the Russian military and estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 had joined the military. Other reports suggest that as many as 15,000 Nepalis were drafted into the Russian war effort.
Activists working on behalf of the families of missing recruits say they have details of more than 600 Nepalese citizens who joined the Russian army, some of whom were even able to return home.
The story of a survivor
Among those who escaped is I. Sunar, who is trying to rebuild his life in Nepal and asked that his full name not be published to protect his privacy.
Mr Sunar was working as a police officer when he met a recruiting agent in Kathmandu. The agent said he would be helping military personnel in urban areas, far from active war zones, and the job would pay nine times more than his $225 monthly salary in Nepal.
“I thought it would change my life for the better,” says Mr. Sunar, his hands shaking, as he walks through a busy market in Kathmandu.
Mr. Sunar had to pay the agent around $2,600 to arrange his trip and bribe a Nepali immigration official (who authorities say has since been suspended). His experiences closely match those of other survivors, and the Kathmandu police chief who investigated the case confirmed the details in this story.
Mr Sunar landed in Moscow on September 20 along with half a dozen other Nepalese men. To their surprise, they were taken to a military training camp, where they spent two weeks in basic training before being sent to the front.
“It was very cold at the front and there was no adequate supply of food and water,” Mr Sunar recalls. “Every day, one of us was killed and no one recovered their bodies or registered their deaths.”
In December, Mr Sunar decided to flee after narrowly escaping a drone strike that killed eight Nepalese serving alongside him.
“I didn’t want to die without making any effort to save my life,” he says.
Often, the same smuggling networks that bring fighters to Russia also help deserters escape. But Sunar attributes his escape to luck and determination. After leaving his post, he says, it took him five days of walking, hitchhiking and swimming through rivers to reach Moscow.
“I can hardly describe my happiness when I reached the Nepalese embassy,” he says. “God saved me.”
Courtesy of Kritu Bhandari
Families are looking for a degree
During one of the few phone calls Mr Pun had with his wife, he mentioned that he was being sent to a similar week-long military training course.
This must have been a shock to Mr. Pun, who had been earning $112 a month as a teacher when a relative told him about the “helper” job in Russia. A monthly salary of $2,000 and the prospect of getting a Russian passport after a year seemed like a dream for the Pun family. He had never heard of serving in a combat unit.
“After that, he didn’t call anymore,” says Mrs. Pun. Despite repeated attempts to reach her husband, she heard nothing from Russia until her phone rang on the evening of February 12.
A man who claimed to be her husband’s friend and also worked in the Russian army was on the phone. He told her that her husband had been killed.
Devastated and confused, Ms. Pun left her in-laws’ house in Pokhara, Nepal, and moved to the capital, where she hoped the Russian embassy could give her more information. But every time she went there, she was turned away by guards.
Without official confirmation or proof of her husband’s death, she cannot bring herself to tell her in-laws about the February phone call.
“I still can’t believe it,” she says with tears in her eyes. “If he was killed, the Russian government should send us his body.”
The Nepalese Foreign Ministry has asked Russia to repatriate the bodies of its citizens killed in the war. The government has also banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine for work.
But Ms. Bhandari, the activist, wants more.
Her group has organized protests, marches and hunger strikes to demand the rescue of Nepali citizens serving in Russia. “But instead of taking concrete action, the government is harassing us,” she says, referring to a sit-in in April during which she and several other activists were arrested by police.
The protesters want Nepali authorities to use their ties to more influential countries – such as China and India – to pressure Russia to speed up the return of Nepali citizens and bodies. Other demands include compensation for victims’ families, treatment of the war-wounded and information about missing fighters.
“No matter what happens, I will not abandon these families,” says Ms. Bhandari. “We will raise our voices until our men are brought back.”
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