Bhubaneswar: The mortal remains of 30-year-old A Ramaya, a resident of Madhabandha village in Ganjam district, were brought to Odisha on Thursday following his death in one of the largest Ukrainian drone offensives on Russian territory on May 16.
Soon after the tragic news reached Ramaya’s village, his family approached Ganjam District Collector V Keerthi Vasan for assistance. The Collector coordinated with the Odisha Resident Commissioner’s office in New Delhi and the Indian Embassy in Moscow. The recruitment agency that facilitated his travel to Russia was also contacted, its owner held a video call with the employing company and wrote to the Russian Embassy in Delhi and the Indian government to expedite the process.
An official statement said that the mortal remains of Ramaya were brought back to Odisha with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and the Government of Odisha.
Following the request, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Office of the Principal Resident Commissioner of the Government of Odisha in New Delhi, the Directorate of Odisha Paribar under the Department of Odia Language, Literature & Culture and the Ganjam district administration jointly facilitated the return of the mortal remains to Odisha.
After the mortal remains arrived at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar, Officer on Special Duty of the Directorate of Odisha Paribar, Pritish Panda, supervised the arrangements for transporting the body to the deceased’s native village in Ganjam district.
Ramaya, the youngest of four siblings, had been working as a structure fitter with a construction company in Moscow for over a year, regularly sending money back home to support his family’s efforts to renovate and expand their modest house. He had visited home during Maha Shivratri and stayed till March 22 before heading back to Russia. He was regularly in touch with the family, but on Saturday night, there was no call. A colleague, Chandreya Reddy, who worked at the same site, later informed the family that Ramaya and others were waiting for a bus after their night shift when the strike occurred.
He had planned to save enough money to return to Odisha and start a business. His father and elder brother worked as sharecroppers.
Ramaya was among four people killed in the overnight drone strikes in the Moscow region on May 16-17, in what Russian authorities described as one of the most significant such attacks since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. The assault reportedly involved hundreds of drones, with Indian officials confirming that one Indian national was killed and three others injured.
