New Delhi [India], August 23 : Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) principal secretary and Trichy MP Durai Vaiko has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking urgent intervention for the safe repatriation of Indian nationals who he said have been forcibly conscripted into the Russian military and are in "extreme distress" in the war zone.
Vaiko highlighted the case of Kishore Saravanan, a medical student from Tamil Nadu, whose parents received a communication on August 16 stating that he was being taken towards active conflict zones in Bakhmut and Kostyantynivka. "His family is in unbearable agony as each passing day increases their fear of losing their son," Vaiko said in the letter.
He also pointed to the case of Om Chandrakant Nerkar, a young Indian from Pune who travelled to Russia in March 2024 and has since gone missing. "He is now listed as missing by both the Indian Embassy and Russian authorities. His family strongly believes he remains in that location, but their efforts have yielded no relief," the MP said.
Vaiko further cited inputs from Nerkar's family representing 14 other missing Indians from across the country, noting that "these cases, taken together, point towards a deeply troubling pattern that suggests thousands of Indians may have been forcibly conscripted into the war."
Referring to a newspaper report dated August 21, he also mentioned the case of G Rajapandi, a 24-year-old from Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, who fell victim to a Russia-linked job fraud.
"Promised lucrative employment abroad, he waited for months in Delhi, hoping to travel to Russia. Unable to secure the promised job and under severe distress, he died of cardiac arrest on August 13, 2025," Vaiko wrote, adding that this incident highlights the "fraudulent recruitment network that continues to prey on vulnerable Indian youth."
Urging immediate action, Vaiko said, "The plight of these young men highlights a larger problem where Indian nationals, particularly students and workers, are being coerced into vulnerable situations in Russia, conscripted to the warfront. Families are living in unimaginable trauma, not knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead."
He appealed to the Prime Minister to take up the matter directly with the Russian authorities for the safe return of Saravanan, Nerkar, and others. "This matter is not only about protecting innocent lives but also about upholding India's solemn responsibility towards its citizens abroad," he stressed.
The letter enclosed a list of 14 Indian nationals missing in Russia.
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