Indian tourists are forced to join Russian army and fight in Ukraine after travelling to the country to celebrate Orthodox New Year in Moscow

A group of Indian men who went on a holiday to Russia in December are now trapped and are said to have been forced to fight against Ukraine.

The seven men, who are from Punjab and Haryana, travelled there on December 27 to celebrate the Christian Orthodox new year on January 14.

They had a visa for Russia which was valid for 90 days but then went to Belarus and were unaware they needed a separate visa to do so.

In a video posted on X, one of the men, known as Harsh, said: 'An agent offered to take us to Belarus.

'We were not aware we needed a visa.

'When we went to Belarus (without a visa) the agent asked us for more money and then abandoned us.

The seven Indian men who have been trapped are seen in the video in a small dirty room

'The police caught us and handed us over to Russian authorities, who made us sign documents.

'Now they (Russia) are forcing us to fight in the war against Ukraine.'

Russian officials are able to do this because the men have officially broken the law by not having a valid visa and so are now in the hands of the authorities.  

In the video the men are seen wearing military-style winter jackets, standing inside a a dirty room that appears to have a barred window.

Harsh, who is recording the video explains the situation they are in and pleads for help.

Harsh's family has told Indian news channel NDTV the young man had also sought employment abroad, and was reportedly told that it would be easier to emigrate to a country of his choice if he went via Russia.

'My son went abroad on December 23. He went in search of work and was caught in Russia, where his passport was snatched away. He told us they had been caught by Russian soldiers who threatened him with 10 years of jail and recruited him. He said he was forced to do military training,' his mother claimed.

'I want the government to bring my son safely home.'

Harsh's brother claimed he was given weapons training and deployed to the Donestsk region. 'It is difficult to say if he will be alive now or not,' he said and made a similar appeal to the government.

One of the other men, believed to be named Gurpreet Singh has had his family make an appeal for help.

The families of the Indian men who have been trapped and forced to fight are asking for help

The Indian embassy in Russia is trying to work out a deal to bring the men back to their families

His brother, Amrit Singh, told NDTV the men had been 'forced' into military service.

'They were forced to join the army there since the documents which they signed in Belarus were in the Russian language. It said they either accept imprisonment for ten years or join the Russian army,' he claimed.

The seven men in this video are among nearly two dozen who are reportedly stranded in Russia, or are on the frontlines of the war. All say they were tricked into active military service.

There are also reports at least 10 other Indians who have found themselves in similarly distressing situations; they were sent to Russia for jobs and ended up being exploited by officials, often taking money.

Last month the Indian government said it was aware some of its citizens had become caught in the Russian, Ukraine war. 

It said it is working with Moscow to try to get them freed.

Many Indians are said to have gone to Russia believing they were getting support and helper roles but then officials pushed them into enlisting, making them sign documents and forcing them to do military training. 

This has prompted the Indian embassy in Russia to say: 'We urge all Indians to stay away from this conflict.'

One Indian man, Mohammed Asfan, from Telangana was 'duped' into joining the Russia-Ukraine war, believing he was taking on a back office role.

He also travelled to the war-torn country in December. 

It is reported that Asfan was forced into the military, put on the front line - and has now died on the battlefield.

Mohammed Asfan, from Telangana was 'duped' into joining the Russia-Ukraine war, believing he was taking on a back office role

He has since died on the battlefield after allegedly being forced to fight on the frontline 

The Indian embassy in Russia said: 'We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Mohammed Asfan.

'We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities.

'Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India.'

The ministry of external affairs in India is now saying there are over 20 Indian citizens stuck in Russia. 

Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told Indian newspaper Hindustan Times 'We also told people not to venture into the war zone and not get caught into difficult situations.

We are in regular touch with the Russian authorities.'

'Each and every such case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities and those brought to the attention of the ministry have been taken up with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi.

'Several Indians have already been discharged as a result.

'We remain committed, as a matter of top priority, to actively pursuing with the Russian authorities all the relevant cases of Indian nationals for an early discharge from the Russian army.'

Last week, the ministry said it was in contact with another trapped Indian citizen, Azad Yousf Kumar, a 31-year-old man from Jammu and Kashmir. 

Days after his 'enlistment', Kumar was reportedly shot in the foot while in a combat situation.

The reports of trapping tourists and forcing them to fight is the latest in a series of policy changes and tactics by the Kremlin to bolster it's military.

In February, it was revealed by UK military intelligence that Putin was working to raise the age limit for army officers to 70 in an attempt to increase Russia's military might.

'Russia is proposing a draft legislation to raise the age of military contract personnel, including those that were recruited before June 2023, to age 65 and age 70 for officers,' a statement released by Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.

'This would substantially raise the current age limit of 51 for non officers and would likely extend the contract length.'

Russia is believed to currently have around 1.3m military personnel, twice that of Ukraine's 780,000, although not all are currently fighting Putin's war.

Despite it being unclear exactly how many more troops the age increase will have on the Russian army, the number could be significant - nearly one third of Russia's 146m population is aged 55 or above.

Putin has also been releasing convicts from prison in order to help the war effort, many joining the infamously barbaric Wagner group.

The Indian men allegedly being forced to fight have no military training like regular soldiers do

Putin seems to be doing everything he can think of to bolster his military in the Ukraine war

It was announced last year by the then Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that the convicts would have to serve for a minimum of six months in the army and then they would be freed. 

It is reported that Wagner recruited 49,000 prisoners to fight and only 32,000 returned.

That's a much lower proportion than he originally promised but independent researchers believe the real number of survivors is even lower, about 20,000.

One of the convicts freed to fight is a rapist who was half way through an eight year jail sentence. 

Nikolai Nechaev, 38, from the city of Perm, was pardoned by Putin so that he could fight against Ukraine, which he did for his mandatory six months - and after he was freed, he allegedly sexually assaulted a young girl.