Mother battling cancer seeks Indian student’s repatriation from Ukraine POW camp

IN dec 2023, amerind educatee Sahil Majodhi arrived in russian federation to act on higher studies, months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Majodhi would become one of the scores of Indians lured into serving the Russian military and deployed in Ukraine. He soon surrendered to Ukrainian authorities, maintaining he never intended to fight and wanted to return to India.Majodhi’s case first came to light this year after Ukrainian authorities released a video in which he identified himself as an Indian from Gujarat’s Morbi. He appealed to the Indian government to bring him home. Since then, his family has been pursuing legal and diplomatic efforts to secure his repatriation even as his mother, Haseena Banu, a single parent, is undergoing cancer treatment and has been diagnosed with cardiac complications.The recruitment of Indians into Russia’s armed forces has been an irritant in India-Russia relations. Indian citizens have been lured into serving with the Russian military on pretexts such as lucrative salaries, bonuses, and promises of citizenship. The number of Indian workers in Russia has swelled to 100,000 in recent months. Some of them, recruited as cleaners, plumbers, and construction workers, were being lured into jobs in the Russian military.In December 2025, the government informed Parliament that 26 Indians serving in the Russian armed forces were killed and seven were reported missing. The figure for the dead had risen to 32 by April, and the missing to 12. According to an official tally, 214 Indians were reported to have been recruited into the Russian military. India had managed to get 135 of them discharged and released.In April, HT reported that the Indian side is currently pursuing 35 “active cases” of Indians serving in the Russian military to secure their release. The bodies of three Indians killed on the frontlines in Ukraine have been repatriated to India since February.Banu’s lawyer, Supreme Court advocate Deepa Joseph, has written a letter to Ukraine’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights to facilitate Majodhi’s repatriation from a Ukrainian prisoners of war camp, citing humanitarian grounds and his mother’s deteriorating health.The letter blamed “circumstances” for Majodhi’s detention and deployment in Ukraine without “his informed or voluntary consent”. It added that he later surrendered and maintained he never intended to participate in the conflict.Joseph cited Banu’s health issues and said that Majodhi’s mother is entirely dependent on her only son. She added that Banu’s health has deteriorated during his prolonged absence.The Delhi high court has sought a status report from the ministry of external affairs and the Indian embassy in Russia after Banu sought directions for Majodhi’s repatriation. The authorities informed the court that they are awaiting communication from the Ukrainian authorities through diplomatic channels before filing a complete status report. The court is due to hear the matter next on July 13.Joseph urged the Ukrainian authorities to consider humanitarian measures available under Ukrainian law and international humanitarian principles to facilitate Majodhi’s early repatriation so that he can reunite with his ailing mother.