Haryana youth’s Russian dream ends in drone strike death

A month after his family was told he had died in a drone strike on the Ukraine front, the body of 28-year-old Sonu from Madanheri village in Haryana’s Hisar district was brought home and cremated on October 29 — the latest grim reminder of young Indians caught in a war they never meant to fight.

Nearly two weeks earlier, another youth, Karam Chand from Kaithal district — who had gone missing on September 6, the same day as Sonu — was also brought home in a coffin from Russia. Their deaths have reignited fear and anguish among families of at least six Haryana men who remain missing after being lured into the Russian war effort.

Lured by false promises

According to Sonu’s family, he and Karam were among seven Indians — including youths from Punjab and Rajasthan — who underwent a brief 15-day “training” in Russia in August this year. They had been promised high-paying security jobs, but soon found themselves on the war front instead.

“I got a message from a Russian military official on September 19, informing me that Sonu had died in a Ukrainian drone strike,” said his elder brother Vikas. “Others who trained with him told us a drone hit Sonu, while Karam was struck on the shoulder. The two boys from Rajasthan are also missing.”

Former Hisar MP Brijendra Singh raised the issue with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which confirmed that Sonu’s body had been kept in Rostov, Russia, and was moved to Moscow for repatriation to India after completing formalities.

The search for missing youths

Sonu’s death has deepened the fears of families like that of 24-year-old Aman, also from Haryana, who has been missing since October 20. Aman had moved to Russia in July 2024 after failing to secure a constable position in the Indian Air Force and facing visa rejections from Australia and Canada.

He had gone to Russia on a student visa, paying ₹5.5 lakh to a travel agent, and later began working for a private company while studying. “As his visa neared expiry, someone there offered him ₹2.5 lakh monthly and a ₹10 lakh advance for what he said was a security job,” recalled Aman’s brother Aashish. “He was actually sent for army training. We didn’t even know until it was over.”

The last WhatsApp call Aman made to his family was on September 3. “On September 19, a Russian official told us Aman went missing on September 6,” Aashish said.

A growing tragedy

The story has become tragically familiar in Haryana. Since July 2024, Sonu’s death marks the fourth casualty from the state in the Russia-Ukraine war. Many of the missing men share a similar story — struggling with unemployment at home, lured by travel agents with promises of wealth abroad, and trapped in a foreign war zone instead.

In Rohtak, Shri Bhagwan said his nephew Sandeep has also gone missing. “Sandeep went to Russia in September on a study visa. His mother sold her gold to arrange ₹6 lakh,” he said. “He was earning ₹90,000 a month at a restaurant when an agent from Ambala promised him ₹2.1 lakh monthly and a ₹10 lakh advance to join the Russian Army. We haven’t heard from him since October 1.”

As another coffin returns home, the families left behind in Haryana’s villages continue to wait — for answers, or for bodies — as the war in Ukraine claims the lives of more young men who only ever wanted a better life.