WAR VISA

Agents lure Indians with phony letters and fake citizenship offers to join the Russian army; many are now trapped on the Ukraine war front 

- RAHUL DEVULAPALLI

A firm helmed by a former chief secretary of Telangana has been named in the documents that facilitated a Hyderabadi youth’s journey to Russia to fight in the Ukraine war. Mohammed Afsan, a resident of Red Hills, is said to be in Donetsk region of Ukraine, which is controlled by Russia.

Afsan, 30, was working in a clothing store in Hyderabad till September, supporting his wife and two children. He received an ‘invitation letter’ in Russian sent by an agent for processing his visa. THE WEEK accessed the letter addressed to the Russian embassy in Delhi, which mentioned that Afsan was employed with a semi-conductor company located in Hyderabad’s IT corridor.

The company has a former chief secretary and several well-known local entrepreneurs on its board of directors. Although the company’s address was correct, the contact number furnished was that of a top corporate hospital in Hyderabad. The letter said the purpose of Afsan’s trip to Russia was to “provide IT services”. His family told THE WEEK that neither did he work for the said company nor was he an IT professional.

Similar is the case of Mohammed Sufiyan, another youth from Telangana who is serving in the Russian army on the frontline. The 23-year-old, who is from Narayankhed town, took up a small job in Dubai after the pandemic. An agent promised him better opportunities in Russia. Sufiyan, too, received an ‘invitation letter’, which identified him as an employee of a Hyderabad-based company and invited him to provide IT services. But the company mentioned in the letter specialises in manufacturing stationery items. And Sufiyan has not even cleared high school, let alone computer engineering.