Mohammad Ali Hasan Sohel, from Goalanda upazila in Rajbari, is now in a hospital in Penza, a city about 700 kilometres from Moscow, the Russian capital. He has been receiving treatment there for one month and 10 days. Prothom Alo spoke to him over a video call yesterday, Wednesday.
Breaking down in tears during the conversation, Ali Hasan said, “Nobody wants a life like this. This is no life at all. I contacted the Bangladesh embassy, and they said they would try to help once I recover. But if I recover, they will send me back to the battlefield.”
Ali Hasan further said, “I don’t know whether I will be able to stand on my feet again within another year. I spend all my time praying to return home. Please, do whatever you can to rescue me and send me back to my family.”
Thirty people travelled to Russia together on 7 May to work as construction workers. Their families told Prothom Alo that they did not get the jobs they had been promised after arriving. Instead, they were sent to fight for Russia through deception.
At least 20 of them have died so far, while six remain on the battlefield. Two escaped from hospitals and returned to Bangladesh. The other two, admitted to separate hospitals, have appealed to be brought home.
The families of those killed and the injured said the 30 men were taken to a military camp and divided into three groups. Ali Hasan was among a group of 16.
He told Prothom Alo that after just five days of training, five men were sent to the battlefield on the sixth day. They walked for miles, surviving on the dry food they carried, and reached a tunnel three days later. It was an underground military camp, where they were kept. Eventually, the remaining 11 members of their group joined them.
Ali Hasan said that, at one point, they were each handed a weapon, dressed in military uniforms and sent towards the front line one by one. Of the 16 men in his group, 14 are now missing, while the remaining two are in hospital.
“Those who refuse to fight are detained, beaten and punished. Eventually, they are forced to go. They hand you a weapon and say you don’t have to fight; just move back and forth, right and left. It is bait, a death trap. As soon as you go, you come under attack from Ukrainian drones. Some are killed. Those who manage to return injured are taken to hospital for treatment,” Ali Hasan said.
On 26 July, his wife, Akleema Khatun, submitted an application to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment seeking her husband’s rescue and financial assistance for the family.
The application said Ali Hasan had gone to Russia for a job to earn a living but had been deceived and ended up in the hands of the Russian military. Meanwhile, his family is under pressure from creditors to repay loan instalments.
Mohammad Palash Sheikh was also among the five men who went to the battlefield with Ali Hasan in the first group. One of his hands was blown off in a drone attack. He has been admitted to a hospital in Moscow for the past 24 days, according to his cousin Abu Saleh Islam, who spoke to Prothom Alo.
“Since he has lost one hand, they may not send him to the battlefield again. They will decide once he recovers. The embassy has also said it will try to bring him home after he recovers. Palash wants to return to Bangladesh by any means possible,” Abu Saleh said.
On 26 July, Palash’s sister, Chumki Khanam, submitted a letter to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment seeking his rescue and return to Bangladesh, along with financial compensation.
The letter said Palash, from Sadar upazila in Gopalganj, had travelled to Russia on 7 May in the hope of a better life, borrowing money and taking out high-interest loans. After arriving, he was deceived and handed over to the military through coercion and deception.
The letter called for diplomatic efforts to rescue him and financial assistance for his family to help ease the burden of debt.
Meanwhile, a responsible official at the Bangladesh embassy in Moscow told Prothom Alo that neither Ali Hasan nor Palash had contacted the embassy to seek repatriation, despite being injured in the war and receiving treatment in hospital.
The Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022, and Bangladeshis started travelling to Russia for work in 2023. The number of workers going there has increased severalfold over the past three years. Many end up being drawn into the war, largely as ‘bait’. Some have also been killed, although the exact number is unknown.
Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chair of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), a private research organisation working on migration, told Prothom Alo that the Bangladesh embassy should take responsibility for the two men in hospital by contacting the Russian government.
“Russia must be made to cover all their medical expenses, outstanding dues and compensation. Arrangements must be made to bring them back to Bangladesh as soon as they recover,” she said.