Azad Yousuf Kumar, 32, from south Kashmir's Pulwama district, told DW that while looking for employment opportunities abroad in December 2023, he came across a YouTube channel advertising lucrative security positions in Russia.

Kumar said that he was enticed by the prospects and claims to have paid the company behind the now-deleted channel around 130,000 rupees (€1,430; $1,486) for travel and processing fees. He said that he was willing to do so, as he hadn't found work locally despite being a commerce graduate.

Kumar explained that he had no idea at the time that he would eventually become stranded along the Russia-Ukraine border with a dozen other Indians and end up fighting in Russia's war in Ukraine for several months.

"I endured near-death experiences, including being injured during combat training, all while becoming contracted to the Russian army to fight in the Ukraine war," Kumar told DW from his residence in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Kumar told DW that he faced the brutal realities of war when he ended up stationed in Ukraine's war-torn city of Luhansk. He claimed that he and others dug trenches amid artillery fire and incoming shells — which, he said, often landed very close to their positions.

"Just a couple of weeks into training, I suffered a gunshot wound to my foot due to the unfamiliarity of........

© Deutsche Welle