Dewan Rai, who was killed in the Russia-Ukraine war, was laid to rest with military honors after five months

The Russian army informed the Nepali Embassy and the community before giving the final salute. Sushil Ghimire, Second Secretary from the Embassy and Keshav Timalsina, President of the Non-Resident Nepali Association of Russia, participated in the last tribute ceremony.

Rai, who had passed the language test of Employment Permit System (EPS) to go to South Korea before Covid, had come to Russia through a consultancy last October to study. After reaching Russia and joining the army, his family was last spoken to on the phone on November 17. Then the news of his death was received by the family in Nepal on November 1.

After the family allowed the Nepalese embassy to bury him in Moscow, Russia conducted the funeral with military honors. "The bodies of those killed in the Russia-Ukraine war are being collected in the city of Rostov, and DNA tests will be done to identify them after they are brought there," said Timalsina, president of NRN Russia. According to him, the family could have taken the body from Russia to Nepal. The Russian army will take the dead body to any place in Russia. If the family is willing to bring it to Nepal, it is allowed. However, the family has to bear the expenses of taking it from Russia to their home," he said. "From here, the body is going to Afghanistan."

A month ago, the body of a Nepali who committed suicide was collected and sent to Nepal by NRN. It cost about five lakh rupees to send the dead body. The government of Nepal is not ready to bear the cost of bringing the bodies of those killed in the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to Foreign Minister NP Saud, discussions are being held with the Russian government about bringing the bodies of Nepalis who were killed in the war. "There is a dialogue going on about bringing the dead body to Nepal," he added. The family has also been saying that the government should take care of the financial situation. Although Russia has mentioned that it is ready to compensate the families of the dead, it is not yet ready to pay for sending the bodies of the dead to Nepal. The Nepal government is asking Russia to bring the body to Nepal.

Some families have prepared Kush's body and cremated it after being uncertain about the body. Gangaraj Moktankopus of Ilam Municipality-9, who was killed on October 29, was cremated in the first week itself. On November 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially confirmed Moktan's death. We asked the municipality to bring the body. We also ran abroad. We asked other leaders and MPs to give up. I had to do Kazkiriya in the first week of August after not seeing any skill from anywhere," said Yangila Sherpa, sister-in-law of the deceased. NRN President Timalsina said that the family is allowed to bring the body to Nepal when the Russian government has identified the body. "The bodies of many who were killed in the war are not whole," he said.

According to the Nepalese who came to the camp after serving in the front line of the Russian army, it is very difficult and challenging to collect the bodies of those killed in the Red Zone. There is no need to immediately pick up the dead bodies of friends killed in war. In some places it takes even months. We once got a job picking up dead bodies. We brought only the clothes and bones of some. It is very difficult to identify such a body. It is not immediately known who it is," said the Nepalese.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced only 12 deaths in the Russian army. Their families have not received the body yet. Among the 12, the family has received news that the bodies of Dewan Rai and Sandeep Thapalia of Gorkha have been formally cremated. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not released the details of the Nepalis killed in the Russia-Ukraine war after December 4. The number of families who have joined the army and are out of contact and who have applied for rescue has exceeded 150.

Despite repeated requests by Nepal to the Russian ambassador in Nepal, Alexey Novikov, and the Russian government, Russia has not agreed to anything other than compensation. Nepal has already sent a diplomatic note twice and has called the Russian ambassador twice and asked about the illegal recruitment of Nepalis in the Russian army. Besides, Foreign Minister Saud has also expressed special interest in this matter to the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister. During the 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Uganda's capital Kampala in the first week of January, Foreign Minister NP Saud met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vasiliy. In the

meeting, Minister Saud again asked the Russian Minister not to enroll Nepalese citizens illegally, to return all those enrolled to Nepal and to compensate the families of those who died.

On November 18, a diplomatic note was sent to Russia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that 'Nepali citizens should not be recruited into the Russian army and if they are, they should be returned to Nepal immediately'. According to the ministry, the diplomatic note has not been answered yet. Also, the families of those who were killed in the war and illegally recruited went to the Russian Embassy in Kathmandu and presented a memorandum to the embassy staff.