Enrollment of Nepalese in the Russian army is stopped, 150 Nepalese returned home in four months

Kathmandu Officials have said that since the second week of May, nearly 150 Nepalis have returned home from the Russian army. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sources, the number of Nepalese returning home through the Nepali embassy in Moscow has reached 138. Some other Nepalis have also returned from the Russian army without using the embassy.
According to a source at the Nepali Embassy in Moscow, three Nepalis are in contact with the embassy to return home. The embassy has arranged shelter for them. Navraj Gurung of Lamjung Dudhpokhari, who contacted the embassy after the Russian army gave permission to return to the country, is one of them.
Diplomatic effort pays off
Russia, which attacked Ukraine on February 22, 2022 (February 10, 2078), started to recruit foreign citizens into the army from September 2022. In the beginning, Russian-speaking citizens of former Soviet Union countries residing in Russia for various jobs were enrolled. Some Nepali students who had gone to study in Russia started to be recruited from May 2023, as they received attractive salaries and allowances when recruited during the war. Due to the attractive salary, some Nepalis later came to Russia to join voluntarily. Some were taken to Russia by human traffickers.
Although various media published the news that Nepalis were also recruited in the Russian army, after the incident of Gorkha’s Sandeep Thaplia being killed in the Ukrainian attack, it was officially confirmed that the Nepalis were in the Russian army. Then the Nepali Embassy in Moscow and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Kathmandu called on not to join the army of countries other than those whose recruitment has been traditionally approved through a bilateral agreement. On December 1, 2023 (15 Mansir 2080), Nepal through a diplomatic note demanded to stop the recruitment of Nepalis in the Russian army, to treat the injured Nepalis in the war and to compensate the families of the dead.
Following Nepal’s request, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s senior South Asian affairs official informed the Russian government that the Russian government will be sympathetic to Nepal’s demand in a conversation with Milan Tuladhar, the Nepalese ambassador to Russia. According to the source, the Russian officials wanted the return of the Nepalis in their army not to be made a subject of rumours. Military matters, moreover, during wartime, were a sensitive matter, and it was only natural.
“On May 24, 2024, the deputy head of the recruitment agency of the Russian army called our ambassador and informed them that the recruitment of Nepalis has been completely stopped and that the recruited Nepalis have been gradually released,” said an official of the Foreign Ministry. .’
Two ways to return home
Foreign Affairs Adviser of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) Dr. According to Rupak Sapkota, information has been received that nearly 150 Nepalis have returned from the Russian army. “They have started to return since a little while ago,” said the consultant Dr. Sapkota said, “They are being returned in coordination with the Nepalese Embassy in Moscow.” Nepal has submitted a list to the Russian government with a request to return 321 citizens from the Russian army. Out of that, 138 people have returned and 3 people are in the process of returning.
However, this is only the official return figure. Officials say that if the number of Nepalis who returned informally is added, it will be more. Nepalis in the Russian army are returning home through two means. One, through the embassy. Two, on a personal level. Those who do not have necessary documents including passports to return to their country, they have contacted the embassy. The embassy has made it easier for them to return home by making travel documents. Among them are 138 people who have returned home after leaving the Russian army, and three people who are preparing to return.
However, those who have necessary documents including passports, they return to their country without contacting the embassy. That is why their data is not available in the embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu. According to sources, the process of compensation has also started for the families of 6 Nepalis who were killed in the war with Ukraine while in their army. Among them are Sandeep Thapalia of Gorkha, Dewan Rai of Pokhara, who were killed in the beginning. Dozens of Nepalis who were recruited into the Russian army have died.