'I was afraid for my life at every moment,' says Sufiyan after returning from Russia-Ukraine war front

“It was a terrifying experience—drones dropping bombs and bullets flying around—but I learned a bit of Russian from the soldiers. I was afraid for my life at every moment,” Mohammed Sufiyan, a youth from Narayanpet in Telangana recounted the terrifying story on Sep 13, shortly after returning to India from the Russia-Ukraine war front.

“I was based at a camp 60 km inside of Ukraine, alongside Russian soldiers, when a local army commander came on Sep 6 and told us we have been dismissed from service and our contract is no longer valid,” he added.

“We could return to India. They provided an Army bus to me, three youths from Gulbarga, and other foreign nationals fighting alongside the Russians, and we reached Moscow two days later. The Indian Embassy had arranged tickets to New Delhi," Sufiyan said, explaining his experiences.

Sufiyan said he can now breathe easily after spending nearly nine months away from his home.

“I am not afraid of dying anymore. At the frontlines, there was a constant fear of being blown apart by a bomb dropped by an Ukrainian drone, a missile strike, or even a stray bullet from friendly fire by Russian soldiers, who were trying to intimidate us for not wanting to fight their war,” Sufiyan said.

He recalled how an employment representative had tricked him into thinking he was looking for a position as an assistant at a government office or as a security guard at a Russian government office in Moscow when he first arrived there in December 2023.

Upon our arrival, we received a signed document in Russian. We were told it was a contract with the Russian government to work for a year for a salary of ₹1 lakh per month. However, a day later, we were taken to an army camp and told to start physical training and learn how to fire rifles,” Sufiyan said.

“We fired AK17 and AK74 rifles as part of our training. Then we were given two weeks of sniper rifle training. If anyone dared protest, officers fired bullets to the right and left of our legs. After about 25 days of training, we were taken to the Russian border with Ukraine, and from there we advanced into Ukraine territory that had been taken over by Russia,” he continued.

Sufiyan described the conditions inside the Ukrainian region under Russian occupation as one in which surviving was a daily struggle. Some young people decided not to operate on the front lines any more after a drone strike in February claimed the lives of 23 Russian soldiers and Gujarati youth Hemil Mangukiya.

“As a punishment, the officer in charge there made us dig a trench and forced us to spend the night in it in freezing temperatures, without food and only a couple of bottles of water. As the war progressed, I and three youths from Gulbarga, who were 20 km apart, protested daily and told the soldiers and officers that we had not signed up to die at their warfront,” he added.

“We had been digging trenches, reloading guns, and lobbing grenades, but we refused to do it anymore. Two months ago, we were moved from the'red zone’ inside Ukraine to the ‘green zone’ on Russia’s border, where the injured were brought in from the frontlines,” he said.

Sufiyan continued, “This was when the Indian government first started trying to get us out of Russia. A few days later, we were again 60 km inside Ukraine. Finally, on Sep 6, we received the news that we had been waiting for.”

Sufiyan said that the ₹1 lakh salary per month they were promised was deposited in phases, and they withdrew cash to pay for food, generators for heat, and hiring spaces in trenches to sleep.

“After we returned to Moscow on our way back to India, the army officials took out Indian bank account numbers and promised to deposit the salary that is still due to us. Let’s see if they do it,” he said.

“It is not important because we were able to return home alive. We spent eight terrifying months fighting someone else’s war. I am thankful to the Indian government for the efforts to get us released and bring us back safely. I am never leaving my family again,” he added.

Mohammed Ilyas Sayed Hussaini, Mohammed Samir Ahmed, and Naeem Ahmed of Gulbarga also arrived with Sufiyan on Sep 13 afternoon at the Hyderabad airport, where their families received them. A young person from Kashmir and another from Kolkata are among the two other Indians who went back home the same day.