Sanjit Bhatt from Gorkha remembers the day the war between Russia and Ukraine began, February 24, 2022. Having arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kiev just a month earlier, he thought of going to Lviv in nearby Poland to save his life in the war.

There was no public bus service. There was no option but to walk to the border. ‘We had walked through the jungle for five days straight to reach the border,’ he said. ‘At that time, there was no one to help anyone. We were not the only ones on the road. There were also Indians, Pakistanis and Ukrainians.’

On the one hand, about two thousand Nepalis had managed to escape safely from Ukraine, and on the other hand, there was a similar number of Nepalis joining the Russian army at that time. Nepalis working from Nepal, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates to Malaysia started joining the Russian army.

‘The old desire to become an army officer was awakened. Without telling my family, I paid one million rupees for a ‘student visa’ and reached Russia. Even the consultancy did not know that I was going to join the army in Russia,’ said Prakash Bohra of Dailekh. ‘I was recruited within five days of reaching Russia. After seven days of training, I was sent to the Russia-Ukraine border. There, I learned to shoot, attack bunkers and avoid grenades. We, a team of 300, traveled deep into Ukraine after an 18-hour journey.’

The next 18 months of Prakash’s life were the most terrifying. ‘I saw my friends dying right in front of my eyes, missiles were flying overhead. My friends who went to the frontline would tell me to report back home if they didn’t return. When the team of 30 returned after 10-15 days, there were only 5-10 of them,’ he said. ‘I watched death closely every day and night. But I didn’t suffer a single injury in the 18 months I was in the war.’ But not everyone was as lucky as Prakash.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  Consular Department, 118 Nepalis who were recruited into the Russian army lost their lives. 132 are still missing and 219 have been injured. The Consular Department is collecting and sending DNA samples as per the letter from Russia to verify the deaths.

The government has not provided official information about Man Bahadur Tamang, 45, of Gujra Municipality-2, Rautahat, who died in a drone attack on 10th January. ‘I used to talk to my husband about the war. He used to assure me that the war was not like before. After not being in touch for a few days, I felt cold. I was scared because I did not receive any replies to my calls or messages,’ she said. ‘I first contacted Bivas from Palpa, who was staying with him, on TikTok. He told me that he had died in a drone attack.’

Recently, Nepalis who have acquired Russian citizenship are participating in the war. Janam Rai, who has been working in the Russian army for three years, said that he has not been allowed to return to Nepal recently. ‘We are trying to come to Nepal but have not been allowed to return,’ he said. ‘Nor has the influx of Nepalis coming to join the Russian army stopped.’ As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, a large number of young people from all over the world are illegally joining the Russian army.

As the Russia-Ukraine war reaches four years, both sides have lost a large amount of human and land resources. The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing since February 24, 2022. After suffering unexpected losses in the war with Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin introduced a policy to increase the number of soldiers by providing a salary of about 300,000 rubles to foreign citizens recruited and directly granting Russian citizenship after one year.