Opinion | Lured By Salaries, Fed To War: How India's Jobless Youth Have Become Canon Fodder

Updated: Oct 14, 2026 17:10 pm IST Published On Oct 14, 2026 16:42 pm IST Last Updated On Oct 14, 2026 17:10 pm IST

Published On Oct 14, 2026 16:42 pm IST

Last Updated On Oct 14, 2026 17:10 pm IST

As per India's Ministry of External Affairs, 259 Indian nationals are believed to have been drafted into the Russian armed forces. Out of these, 139 have obtained an early discharge, while information remains to be sought about 69 others who may reportedly still be serving, or whose statuses remain undetermined.

This raises a pertinent policy question: why and how were Indian citizens in the civilian overseas-employment market able to get into a foreign military force without prior identification? Moreover, the matter exposes the frailty of overseas-employment regulation, highlighting questions about the credibility of recruitment agents and emphasising the gravity of wage disparities, making a high-risk foreign military job appear unignorably enticing.

Why People Take The Risk

Latest reports from Telangana, where youth workers were trapped by allegedly being offered salaries of about Rs 2 lakh a month, along with insurance and an additional bonus, highlight the pivotal role of financial incentives in understanding the recruitment process. Additionally, one worker paid Rs. 2.5 lakh a month to an agent to secure employment in Russia.

These foreign salaries, albeit associated with tremendous risks, can matter a great deal to workers from extremely low-income backgrounds as they present the opportunity to alter their economic status. The informal nature of local employment, coupled with irregular or poor salary structures, makes this sort of overseas employment seem even more lucrative despite being surrounded by incomplete information regarding the work conditions and expectations.

This environment acts as a breeding ground for predatory agent behaviour, where they do not necessarily need to conceal the perils of such overseas employment opportunities. Rather, they end up presenting any risks of this as temporary, manageable, and financially justifiable. Moreover, the worker may even be deceived into believing that the job involves roles related to security, logistics, or other support work rather than war-zone combat. Hence, the promised payout inadvertently becomes the most prominent part of the equation.

The predicament of the workers in Russia, as highlighted by the Ministry of External Affairs and the news reports from Telangana, demands stricter regulation of overseas employment through stern enforcement against fraudulent........

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