Four Indians scammed into joining Russian army return home
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New Delhi: Four Indian citizens, who were fraudulently recruited into a private Russian army and forced to fight in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, have returned home with distressing accounts of their time in Russia. The Times of India reported that the men arrived back in India on Friday.
The four men, including Mohammad Sufiyan from Telangana and three others from Karnataka, were among approximately 60 young Indians who fell victim to a job scam. They had been lured to Russia with promises of work as security personnel or helpers, only to find themselves drafted into the Russian armed forces upon their arrival in December 2023.
Sufiyan, who had released a video seven months ago pleading for help, described the brutal conditions they faced. "We were treated like slaves," he told TOI. "We were woken up at 6 a.m. every day and forced to work for 15 hours straight, with little to no rest. The conditions were inhuman, and we had to survive on meagre rations." The men were tasked with digging trenches and operating military equipment, including assault rifles and explosives, with minimal training.
Syed Ilias Hussaini from Karnataka, another of the rescued men, said that fear and uncertainty dominated their lives in Russia, where they were cut off from their families and unsure if they would survive. "Our phones were confiscated, and we didn’t know when we’d return or when we could speak to our families again," he said. Hussaini added that despite returning home, the trauma of their experiences continues to haunt them.
The ordeal took a deadly turn for one of their friends, Hamil, from Gujarat, who was killed in a drone attack. His death, Sufiyan said, was a turning point that prompted the men to alert their families about their dire situation. The families reached out to India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who facilitated the men's rescue.
Many others remain stranded in Russia, awaiting help to return home while still being forced to serve in the war.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
