In tragic news, a soldier hailing from Amritsar, Punjab found honor and glory fighting not for his own country, but another country embroiled in a war. Tejpal Singh wanted to join the Army, and after failing to enlist in the Indian one, he went to Russia on a tourist visa and joined the Army there. But little did his family know that this he would never return home.
"My husband went to Thailand in December last year to find a job. After staying there for a few days, he and his friends went to Russia on January 12 where he was recruited in the army," said Singh's wife Parminder Kaur on Wednesday at the family's house in Palam Vihar area here.
She said Singh, who went to Russia on a tourist visa, was killed in March, but the information of his death surfaced much later due to the conflict between the two countries. The 30-year-old's body is yet to be found. Tragically, no one knows whether the body is in Russia or still in the custody of Ukraine, Kaur said.
The family had sent emails to the Russian army and the Ministry of External Affairs to repatriate the body for the last rites.
India on Tuesday said two of its nationals, who were recruited by the Russian army, have recently been killed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, taking the number of such deaths to four.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian embassy in Moscow has pressed the Russian authorities, including the Ministry of Defence, for early repatriation of their remains. It said India had strongly taken up the matter with Russia and sought early release and return of all Indian nationals who are with the Russian army.
In March, 30-year-old Hyderabad resident Mohammed Asfan succumbed to injuries sustained while serving with Russian troops on the frontlines with Ukraine. In February, Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangua, a 23-year-old resident of Surat in Gujarat, died in an Ukrainian air strike while serving as a "security helper" in the Donetsk region.