New Delhi: A 30-year-old physically challenged youth from Goraya in Punjab was allegedly killed while fighting for Russia in the ongoing war against Ukraine.
His body was flown back to India earlier this week with family members alleging no help from the Indian government in tracing his whereabouts over the last two years.
Mandeep Kumar was born with a congenital limb disability. In the hope of making a better life for himself, he paid a travel agent who promised him a job in Europe.
However, Mandeep was duped by the travel agent, routed through Armenia and forcibly recruited into the Russian Army despite being specially abled.
His family came to know of this in December 2023 after he sent desperate video messages, pleading to be rescued from a war that was never his to fight.
He kept sending videos, begging for help,” Jagdeep Kumar, Mandeep’s brother, told India Today. “He said he had been forced to join the army. He was scared. He just wanted to come home.”
Mandeep spoke to his family for the last time in March 2024. After that, there was nothing — no calls, no messages, no official word.
For months, the family knocked on every possible door — local authorities, the state government and the Centre — seeking help to locate Mandeep or bring him back. They allege their pleas were met with silence.
“With no support from the system, we were left alone to fight this battle,” Jagdeep said. “No one told us anything.”
Finally, Jagdeep decided to travel to Russia himself to trace his brother. Accompanied by his father, he travelled to that country towards the end of 2025. He tracked down members of the Russian Army and submitted his DNA sample to identify Mandeep.
The dreaded call from Russia arrived seven days later, even as the New Year dawned. Mandeep was dead.
Jagdeep claims that he had already submitted his DNA sample at AIIMS in February 2025, a process facilitated by the Ministry of External Affairs. He claims those
DNA reports were never sent to Russia.
“If my DNA was already collected in India, why did I have to travel to Russia for them to confirm my brother’s death?” he asked. “Why were those samples never sent?”
Neither the Punjab government nor the Centre extended any meaningful help during his search — not logistical, not diplomatic, not financial, Jagdeep has claimed.
After confirming Mandeep’s death, a Russian commander shared images showing his body in a severely decomposed state. The visuals have left the family traumatised and raised disturbing questions about dignity in death.
In a chat accessed by India Today, an official from the Russian Army, while confirming Mandeep’s death through DNA identification, is heard saying that the condition of the body was “not pretty.”
When the family nevertheless insisted on seeing proof, the official sent a disturbing image, adding, “It was taken before freezing. Not much is left. He was identified by DNA.”
“It has ended the waiting, but not the pain,” Jagdeep said after his brother’s body was brought back to New Delhi.
He claims to have been in touch with at least 13 other families from Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh and parts of Bihar, whose sons too were allegedly trafficked and sent to fight in Russia. “Out of them, at least 10 have died,” Jagdeep is quoted as saying.
“There are many families connected with me,” Jagdeep said, his voice breaking. “But there is no help from the embassy or the government. At least families deserve to know if their loved one has died.”
Jagdeep has not yet found the courage to tell his parents the truth. “They are still waiting for him,” he said. “They believe Mandeep will return. I don’t have the strength to tell them that their son will never come home alive.”
“There is no humanity in Russia. People there don’t care,” he said. “Yet I would still say people there are better than people here.”
He says he has lost all hope from the government and will now fight the agents on his own.
“I found out about my brother myself. Now I will fight the agents myself,” Jagdeep said, adding that he has written multiple times to the CBI but has seen no visible action, despite the fact that the CBI registered an FIR in March 2024 in connection with an alleged human trafficking racket linked to the Russian war effort.