An Indian science graduate was promised a job in Dubai but was tricked into fighting for Russia, reports say

• Indians are being duped into joining the Russian military through false employment promises.
• One person said his brother had been promised a job in Dubai but ended up on the front lines in Ukraine.
• About 20 Indians are thought to be caught in the conflict.

Some Indian nationals are being tricked into fighting for the Russian army after having been promised jobs in Dubai, Le Monde reported.

About 20 Indians are thought to have fallen victim to similar schemes and are now caught on the front lines in Russia.

One victim, Aazad Yousuf Kumar, 31, a science graduate, traveled from his home in northern India to Dubai in the hopes of working for an employment consultancy named Baba Vlogs, which is run by a man named Faisal Khan.

Kumar's mother told The Telegraph that after he arrived in the United Arab Emirates, he was told there were no jobs available and that he would have to go to Russia to do kitchen work.

But she said he was then brought to a military base where he was given weapons training.

"We lost touch with him for a while. When he finally phoned after about twenty days, he told us that he had been tricked and taken to an unknown place in Russia, where he had received weapons training for a fortnight, along with a dozen other Indians," his brother, Sajad Ahmad Kumar, told Le Monde.

"He was deployed near the front line with the Russian army. I spoke to him on December 26th. He cried constantly. He told me he wanted to come home," he added.

Another victim told Indian news outlet The Hindu that at least three Indians had been forced to fight for Russian forces after having been sent there as "army security helpers."

He said he had also found the job through Faisal Khan and that they had been "categorically told" that they would not be sent to the battlefield.

But after receiving basic weapons training, he said they were sent to Rostov-on-Don and then on to Donetsk, where they then were forced to join the fighting.

The man, who said that he had not received any of the money he had been promised for the job, told the outlet that he had been able to escape the conflict area and had been admitted to a hospital for frostbite.

He added that he was now struggling to get help from the Indian Embassy in Moscow, saying he had been "turned away several times."

A spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs told The Telegraph that the government was working to secure the release of those stuck in Russia.

"We are trying our best and we are in touch, regular touch with Russian authorities both here in New Delhi and also in Moscow and we are trying to do our best," he said.