About 15,000 Nepalese signed a contract to participate in the war with Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation is mass recruiting Nepalese for the war with Ukraine
For participation in the war, the Russian Federation offers mercenaries $2,000 a month and Russian citizenship.
This was reported by CNN.
Relatives of Nepalese who are fighting in Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation demand that Moscow return their relatives.
I did not join the Russian army for pleasure. I did not have any opportunity to get a job in Nepal. But in retrospect, it wasn't the right decision. We had no idea that we would be sent to the front line so quickly and how terrible the situation would be, said one of the Nepalese mercenaries.
He explained that he decided to go to war because he had no work at home. For this, he was offered 2,000 dollars a month and Russian citizenship.
When he arrived in Moscow, he was sent there for a short training, after which he went to fight in Bakhmut. He stayed there for about a month, after which he was injured.
There is not a single piece of land in Bakhmut that is not affected by bombs. All the trees, bushes and greenery… they are gone. Most of the houses were destroyed. The situation there is so terrible that I want to cry, said a mercenary who fought on the side of the occupiers.
In general, according to CNN, about 15,000 Nepalese took part in the war on the side of the Russian Federation. At least 2,000 of them are missing. Members of the mercenaries' families demand the authorities to return their husbands home.
The government of Nepal has banned its citizens from traveling to Russia for work
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal in December 2023 called on Russia to stop recruiting Nepali citizens and send home the remains of those who died in the war.
We are very concerned that Russia has recruited our citizens and sent them to war zones in vulnerable situations, Nepal's Foreign Minister NP Saud told CNN in an interview from his office in Kathmandu.
The minister said Russia's deputy foreign minister had assured him last month that "they will sort it out" about Nepal's concerns, but acknowledged that no action had been taken by Moscow so far.
We have no information that Russia is doing anything, he said, stressing that Moscow should "respect Nepal's point of view."
The minister said he had requested a trip to Moscow to discuss the matter, but was waiting for an invitation from the Russian government.
Saud also said that Nepal is talking to Ukrainian officials about the release of four Nepali prisoners of war who were taken by Ukraine from the front line. He said that Ukraine has some "reservations" and "legal issues" that the Nepalese government is working to resolve.
It is unclear whether there will be any legal consequences against individuals who either violate the Nepalese government's ban on traveling to Russia for work or participate in hostilities against Ukraine.
Russia recruits mercenaries in various countries
In the summer of 2023, it became known that residents of Nepal, who came to the Russian Federation to study, were being recruited for the war against Ukraine. The main argument for making such a decision is money.
In December, Nepal issued an official statement calling on Moscow to stop recruiting its citizens for the war and to return the bodies of those who had already died.
Recently, the Armed Forces captured a Russian mercenary from Somalia. He said that he signed the contract on December 3, and already on January 4 he was on the front line. The Somali also said that mercenaries from Nepal, Egypt, India and Tajikistan are fighting in the ranks of the Russian army.
Why a captured Somali joined the Russian army
A mercenary of the Russian army from Somalia, Muhammad Adil, was captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of January 2024. Online.ua journalists managed to ask the captured foreigner why he came to Russia, how he got into the occupying army, how much he trained before he got to the front line, and which of his decisions he regrets.
After arriving in the Russian Federation, he got a job at a factory, but soon saw an advertisement of the Russian army on the street and signed a contract on December 3, 2023.
In less than a month, already on January 4, 2024, he found himself on the front line on the territory of Ukraine.
