Amongst the thousands and thousands of conscripts, mercenaries, and contract soldiers fighting and dying for Russia in Vladimir Putin’s “Special Military Operation” against Ukraine, the following examples are mere drops in the ocean with minimal strategic impact. But to those interested, their individual stories may be worth reading about.
On 7 January 2024, Staff Sergeant Wilmer Puello-Mota, an Afghanistan War veteran and member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, absconded justice by defecting to Russia, rather than face an 18-month prison sentence for possessing sexually explicit images of a child and subsequent charges of lying to prosecutors and commanders. In 2020, Puello-Mota had been arrested in Warwick, RI, after calling police to report a stolen firearm when they found images of a nude 17-year-old girl on his mobile phone. Puello-Mota was to be sentenced on 9 January 2024 as part of a plea agreement; instead, he flew from Washington DC to Istanbul, Turkiye, making his way to Russia.
In videos posted online in Russia last week, a man who resembles Puello-Mota talks directly to the camera, speaking in English over background music and Russian subtitles discussing a military operation. The author has not seen this video; however, US State Dept officials are aware of the social media. The State Dept added they have no contact with Puello-Mota and are unable confirm the authenticity of the video.
Source: www.washingtontimes.com/
Amongst the other foreigners fighting in Ukraine are Indian and Sri Lankan contractors who naively accepted jobs as security guards in Russia at a promised monthly salary of 204,000 rubles ($2,201.00). Once arriving in Russia, officers would confiscate their passports and mobile phones before press-ganging them into camps for rudimentary military training with firearms, handheld anti-tank grenades, and first aid.
David Moothappan (pictured) soon found himself reluctantly on the warfront in the Russian-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Injured in late December 2023, Moothappan spent months in Russian hospitals. Last week, he and a compatriot managed to escape and return home to Kerala, India. They are among dozens of Indians and Sri Lankans duped by agents into fighting for Russian forces who are similarly trying to get away. At least two Indians have died so far in the war. India's foreign ministry has been working to repatriate its citizens who have been tricked into fighting in the war.
In March 2024, the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) dismantled a human trafficking ring sending Indians to Russia under the pretext of giving them well-paying jobs.
Sources: www.bbc.com/...www.bbc.com/...