Deceptive recruitment of Indians for Ukraine war is trafficking: Supreme Court | India News
New Delhi: Supreme Court Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Friday was asked to examine the claims of applicants who are relatives of Indians trapped, detained or forcibly recruited due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Jayamalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said if the petitioners’ claim – that these Indians were lured by travel agents to work or study in Russia but were forcibly recruited for war purposes – was human trafficking. Mehta said that if true, it is shocking and he will get a clear picture from the government and respond to the petition. The petitioners said, “Their relatives’ passports and identity cards were confiscated, their freedom of movement was curtailed, and they were threatened and coerced… In some cases, they were forced to sign documents written in languages they did not know and were then forcibly enlisted or admitted to military structures linked to the Russian armed forces.” “The last communications received by their families, mostly between September-October 2025, indicate that the detainees were staying in or near active conflict zones, including Kupyansk, Selidov, Makivka, Chelyabinsk and other regions associated with Russia-U,” the petitioners, seeking a direction from the SC to bring them back safely, said.
