While the spirit of Dasain is spreading in the motherland, the Nepalese who are thousands of kilometers away in Russia-Ukraine battlefield are risking their lives between guns and bunkers. The Nepalese who have joined the Russian army are far away from their homes and families, on the brink of life and death.

Someone tells the experience of spending 50 days in a bunker, someone has a story of doing drone duty in the jungle . But they say, 'Dasain will be spent in war again.'

Janam Rai, who has joined the Russian army for three years, is stationed in the land of Ukraine occupied by Russia. Now his daily life is spent in the forest. It is his duty to protect the lands occupied by Russia . Now I have been on the frontline for 6 months. We will fight from the ground to occupy the land of Ukraine . I am going to do duty when the war is going on,' said Rai, who came to Sarmapak in Ekantipur on Wednesday, 'I am in the war zone.' "When Dasain comes, this mind gets more and more nervous." It has been a long time since the great festival Dasain was celebrated. How will the family's holiday without a son and the family's holiday without a son-in-law be?,' he said, 'this year too, we could not leave the battlefield.' 

Now the name of the village where he is stationed is not known . "We don't know where we are," he said. Russia is advancing by occupying a small area. 

2022 On February 24, Yatarus invaded Ukraine and declared that it was in Ukraine's Doneks, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia territories. It is not recognized internationally. Those recruited into the Russian army are scattered in these four regions. 

'We are moving forward .  Ukraine also deploys drones extensively for countermeasures and recapture. We have to protect ourselves from this," Rai said, "After the capture, the commander gives us the duty location. It's hard to get there. We will go there and make a way for those who come later.'

2023 Atit Chettri of Surkhet, who has been in the Russian army since September, says that he will not be able to volunteer after taking a military job abroad. He added after the first contract was finished . There were 45 Nepalis in his team. Most of them have returned to Nepal.

"The joy of returning alive after completing your mission is greater than fighting a war. I have the experience of returning to Ladi Sakushal camp after two nights and three days of hunger . "The lost life is precious, if you come back, life will be a blessing," he said, "poverty did not let me come back home." If I survive, I will definitely come to celebrate Dasain next year.' There is not a day that a bomb does not fall in the forest . "Ukraine's drones are coming to look for the Russian army in no time." I am trying to work without fear even if I want to be good in the eyes of the commander. "Work will win everyone," he said, "everything in life will never happen at the same time".

Krishna Kandel, who has been in the Russian army for 27 months, is stationed in a village in Ukraine. That village is completely empty  . According to him, every house has lots of fruits. But there are no birds that eat it . It's beautiful here. "Unfortunately, the settlement is empty," he said, "I spent most of the time in the bunker." For such bunkers are dug up to 15 feet from the ground . There is another 5 feet deep hole inside it. Kailash Thakuri, who is on the frontline of

, has not celebrated Dasain with his family for 6 years. This year also happened like this . Home, city and festival, desire all left there . Here is my life. On whose shoulders is the responsibility," he said. The heart hurts even if you cry, the heart hurts even if you don't cry.'

The number of Nepalis working in the Russian army is not certain. All those whose contract period has expired have returned . Those who have Russian citizenship and passport are continuing their military service . There is no one older than us. We are the team that comes first," said Rai, "not much like before. We are few . The old ones have re-enrolled again.'

Russia has restarted a halted recruitment campaign. Russia has said that it will recruit 135,000 more troops. In which it is not clear whether Nepalis were admitted/not. However, according to Rai, it seems that new Nepalis are also being taken. 

Shankar Shrestha, who is still in the Russian army, claimed that only Nepalis who have got PR from Russia are being recruited. It is better not to come here. The atmosphere is very bad . Admission is open . It seems that Nepalis are also being taken.  Height, weight, race do not look at anything . After enrolling and signing the contract, they get 2 million to 32 million rubles in one-and-a-half months . After that, they send them for short-term training,' Rai said, 'They go directly to the place of recruitment.' The monthly salary is above 200,000 rubles.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Nepalis who joined the Russian army and were killed on the war front with Ukraine has reached 73. Subsequent updates have not been made public . The "final report" of 50 people who went missing during the Russia-Ukraine war and sent samples for DNA testing is yet to come.

This war has killed about 50,000 Ukrainians so far. There are reports of about 380,000 injuries. According to reports, about one million Russian soldiers were killed or wounded. In which more than two and a half million deaths have been confirmed. After such a large number of casualties, Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to recruit soldiers using other options than his regular army.

Russia was the first to free a large number of prisoners from prison and send them to war. In October 2023, the number of prisoners in prisons dropped from 420,000 to 266,000. The main reason for which is believed to be the recruitment of prisoners.