Majoti Sahil Mohammed Hussein, a Gujarat resident who travelled to Russia for higher studies, enlisted in the Russian military to avoid a prison sentence in a drug-related case. He joined the Russian army to surrender the moment he got a chance at the Ukraine border.
The Gujarat police said on Wednesday that 22-year-old Hussein, who surrendered to the Ukrainian forces, was a resident of Morbi town in the State.
Hussein lived with his mother, who separated from his father two decades ago, and his maternal grandparents in Morbi, according to the local police. Citing a preliminary probe, Inspector General Ashok Kumar Yadav of the Rajkot Range said Hussein went to Russia for further studies several years ago.
“We also learnt that he was sent to jail after being caught in a drug-related case there,” Yadav said.
“Sahil (Hussein) went abroad for higher studies. We are not aware of what happened to him there,” Hussein’s maternal uncle Abdul Ibrahim Majoti said. “All our family members are educated and well settled, with some in Government service too. I urge the Union Government to bring back Sahil and others stuck in such a situation there,” he added.
The senior IPS officer said the local police are investigating the matter from various angles, including how and when he acquired a passport, a visa and his links. The Ukrainian military had announced on Tuesday that an Indian national fighting alongside the Russian forces had surrendered. The 63rd Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian military released a video of Hussein from Gujarat.
In the video, Hussein said, “I didn’t want to stay in prison, so I signed a contract... But I wanted to get out of there.” After just 16 days of training, he was sent to the front and surrendered quickly following a dispute with his commander.
“I came across a Ukrainian trench position about two to three kilometres away. I immediately put down my rifle and said that I didn’t want to fight. I needed help. I don’t want to go back to Russia,” he said in the video.
There has been no official word from the external affairs ministry so far, but sources said the Indian embassy in Kyiv was ascertaining the veracity of the report and that it has not received any formal communication from Ukrainian authorities on the matter.
The ministry had last month said that India had strongly called upon Russia to release and repatriate 27 Indian nationals currently serving with the Russian Army. There have been reports that some Indians on student and business visas were forced into joining Russian military units deployed on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine.