‘I just want to make Baba proud’ - The Truth Behind the Influx of South Asian Recruits to the Russian Army
Baba Vlogs, a name evoking paternal sentiments, is a seemingly innocuous YouTuber and entrepreneur from Mumbai who uses his platform to help low-income workers find employment in Dubai. Born Faisal Khan, the businessman had amassed a huge following online as word spread of the opportunities he offered. A look at his website would make it seem that he has a legitimate scheme going, helping to recruit Indians and other nationals for blue collar roles. His YouTube channel would also garner similar interest, with 300,000 subscribers, as he posted informative videos detailing how foreign nationals could go to him for opportunities abroad. The page now no longer exists.
A snowy St Petersburg forms the backdrop of one of these videos, with Khan advertising positions in the Russian army in non-combative roles. He details that successful candidates will be employed as 'army helpers' and will aid in clearing rubble and assist in other maintenance roles for the Russian army. For this service, Khan charges the reasonable price of $3600, and promises large remuneration and permanent residency in Russia for a year's service.
Both Baba Vlogs and Russian army recruiters promise that employees will not see any combat on the front line, but the young men being sent home to India in coffins suggest otherwise. Multiple recruits have stated that they were sent straight to Ukraine, handed Kalashnikovs and then started months of military training. Images have circulated of employees in military fatigues and many claim they were duped into signing contracts that they could not understand. Written in Russian, the contracts state that the employee will do everything they can to serve the Russian state, with the only way out being a prison sentence.
Families of these men are heartbroken at the loss of their sons to a deadly conflict. Many mourn the loss of their boys, with parents pleading for the safe return of their sons. Nepali authorities have even gone to the lengths of banning all nationals from working in Russia. The Guardian spoke to the father of Siddartha Dhakal, an aspiring medical student who had gone to Russia to study medicine but had ended up in the Russian army and now captured by Ukrainian forces. The Nepali government are working to bring back as many nationals trapped in Russia as they can, but it is not an easy feat with the number of Nepalis working for the Russian army exceeding 200.
Indian authorities are also working to secure the safe return of Indian nationals currently on the frontline in Ukraine. Some cases include trying to locate and return the body of a loved one to their family in India. India and Russia have had a close relationship since the former gained independence in 1947. This relationship transformed into one of almost symbiosis between Russia and India during the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, and until now. When Russia faced sanctions from the Western world, India was happy to buy gas and oil made cheaper by the price cap, and Russia needed the money to help fund its war machine. Trade remained open between the two states, with little hindrance to their operations. The trafficking of Indian nationals threatens to weaken that bond.
It is not revelatory to state that Russia is having problems in recruiting soldiers to fight on the frontline. Russia has commenced many recruitment drives across the Global South, with recruits coming from Africa and the Americas to fight. Russia's involvement in the Global South is also not new, with disinformation campaigns rife with anti-colonialist and anti-Western language. It is effective to inspire such rhetoric in countries that have been exploited in the past by Western superpowers and win the public to the Russian side. However, Russia's own imperialist and expansionist desires are masked within this rhetoric, and consequently subjugating the people of the Global South from one oppressive overlord to another.
Ukrainian officials have also voiced their concern for the trafficked recruits in the Russian army. They urge the leaders of the Global South to do more to tackle this exploitative practice and protect their citizens. Russia’s gamble on exploiting the people it hopes to win over may not pay off and speaks volumes about the current state of the Russian military. The Kremlin’s neo-colonialist project balances on the shaky pillars of populist disinformation and the manipulation of the citizens of its supposed closest partners. Is this foundation strong enough to carry the weight of Putin’s ambitions?