Families seek Telangana govt help as men remain stranded in Russia, three more from state join Russian military | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Five families from Telangana have made an urgent appeal to chief minister A Revanth Reddy, alleging that their relatives, who travelled to Russia after paying lakhs of rupees for civilian jobs, were instead subjected to military training and pushed towards service linked to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.A total of eight Telangana men are reported stranded in Russia. While seven are mentioned in correspondence from the Indian embassy, while an additional case was separately represented before the Telangana govt.The embassy correspondence also identified Vangala Koteswara Rao, Gujju Jagabandhu and Manikyala Naresh among those stranded in Russia. However, separate family petitions pertaining to these three individuals were not available for review.Burdened by debt and cut off from their families, the men have reportedly pleaded for help to return home, leaving anxious relatives scrambling for govt intervention. One such family is from Narayanapur village in Rajanna Sircilla district, where Dommati Rakshitha, who is nine months pregnant, is desperately seeking help to bring her husband, Dommati Kishan, back from Russia.In an email to the Indian embassy, Kishan’s brother recounted his distress during a brief phone call. “There are many bombs falling here. It is very dangerous. Please help me come back to India,” Kishan reportedly said.Kishan is among five Telangana natives whose families submitted petitions through Prajavani on Oct 30. The petitioners allege that the men travelled to Russia believing they had secured civilian employment but later found themselves undergoing military training or being deployed near conflict zones. Their accounts point to heavy recruitment expenses, mounting debts, non-payment of salaries and uncertainty over their safety.The petitions relate to Kishan of Rajanna Sircilla, Mukkera Rajkumar of Korutla, Potharaju Vijay Krishna of Warangal, Suppan Swamy of Kamareddy and Edavelli Kanukaiah of Karimnagar.For many families, the dream of overseas employment came at a steep cost. Kishan left for Russia on Sept 5 after his family allegedly spent around ₹2.5 lakh on recruitment, visa and related expenses. Rakshitha, who is also caring for their three-year-old son, authorised a relative, Dommati Abhishek, to represent her as she was unable to travel to Hyderabad.Swamy’s family tells a similar story. His father, Suppan Raju, said previous earnings from Qatar were insufficient to clear family debts, prompting Swamy to seek work in Russia. The family allegedly spent around ₹2.3 lakh on recruitment and employment arrangements. According to his father, Swamy later underwent military training and informed the family that he was being moved towards the Ukraine border.Vijay Krishna’s mother, Madhavi, said her son is the main support for the family and funds his younger brother’s education. Likewise, petitioner Mukkera Rajeswari described Rajkumar as the sole breadwinner of their household.Kanukaiah’s case follows a different trajectory. According to his wife Rama, he left Ramachandrapur on Feb 10 after being offered a helper’s job with a monthly salary of ₹40,000 under a two-year contract. The family allegedly paid nearly ₹2.5 lakh to secure the opportunity.Rama claimed Kanukaiah went without salary for three months and later changed companies. Although he was expecting food-packing work, he reportedly received military training instead. She said he later informed the family about an offer of ₹2 lakh a month connected with military service. The family also claims another ₹50,000 was paid in connection with army recruitment.Collectively, Kishan, Swamy and Kanukaiah’s families say they spent around ₹7.8 lakh on recruitment-related payments. However, there is little clarity on what employment the men actually received or whether promised wages were ever paid.The families’ pleas have already drawn political attention. Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind wrote to external affairs minister S Jaishankar seeking intervention on behalf of four of the men, excluding Kanukaiah. Last month, the Indian embassy informed petitioners that it had approached Russia’s defence ministry seeking the release of seven Indian nationals.Telangana govt NRI advisory committee vice-chairperson Mandha Bheem Reddy said, “Overseas labour trafficking can be prevented through sustained awareness and preventive measures.”