(): Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha has said that Russia has given its “in-principle consent” to cancel the contracts of Nepalese nationals who joined the Russian Army and are engaged in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, a media report said on Monday.

Shreshta, also the country’s foreign minister, said in a meeting of the House of Representatives that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that it has “agreed in principle to assist those who have joined the army to cancel their contracts”, the Republica newspaper reported. However, its modality is yet to be decided, he added. The 65-year-old CPN (Maoist Centre) leader said the Nepali Embassy in Moscow is constantly following up on this. “Photos of those held captive in Ukraine have been released. Efforts are being made to bring them back to Nepal,” Shrestha said.

Last week, Shrestha had asked Russia to share a list of Nepalese citizens serving the Russian Army but stressed that complications remained in bringing them back from the war zone. The comments by Shrestha came while speaking to media persons after the Russian Ambassador to the Himalayan nation Aleksei Novikov called on him, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

“Since the war between Russia and Ukraine has not stopped, bringing Nepalis back from the Russian Army is still difficult,” he said.

Hundreds of Nepali citizens are reportedly fighting for the Russians against Ukraine. A small number of Nepali citizens are serving in the Ukrainian Army as well, but both the conflicting nations have not shared the details with the government of Nepal. According to a network of the victims’ families, 20 Nepali nationals are confirmed dead fighting for the Russians, and more than 260 have gone missing or are out of contact. However, the Nepal government has said that so far 11 Nepalese nationals serving in the Russian Army were killed in the war with Ukraine.