Nepalese police have arrested ten people who allegedly tricked unemployed youths into joining the Russian army, on Wednesday, the 6th of December, citing a Nepalese official, reports Reuters.
Kathmandu police have arrested ten people accused of illegally charging unemployed youths up to 9 000 US dollars for “tourist visas”, sending them to Russia via third countries, mainly the UAE, and helping to recruit them into the Russian army, the Kathmandu district police chief told Reuters.
Authorities are currently discussing the case with government lawyers with a view to legal action.
“This is a case of people smuggling […] organised crime,” the police chief added.
Reuters reported that this week Nepal asked Moscow to refrain from recruiting its citizens into the Russian army and called for the return of all Nepalese soldiers serving in Russia after six of them were killed in fighting.
According to Politico, Ukrainian military journalist Andriy Tsaplienko published a video on Monday showing five Russian POWs captured by the Ukrainian army. The prisoners identify themselves in the video, and one of them says he is from Nepal. The journalist wrote that the Nepalese man does not speak Russian and how he became a Russian mercenary he “will tell separately”.
Politico could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. The Kremlin has so far not issued any official reaction, although there have been reports in the past that Russia is actively recruiting foreigners to invade Ukraine.
BNN already reported that Cuba arrested 17 people for trafficking Cubans to fight for Russia in Ukraine, after the discovery of a human trafficking network that forced Cuban citizens to join the Russian army in the war with Ukraine. The most common motivation for these mercenaries is money, although they are not always paid by the Kremlin.
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