海角大神

When the Monitor first reported on Russia鈥檚 recruitment of Nepali citizens two years ago, officials and activists in Kathmandu were still trying to grasp the scale of the problem. Authorities moved to curb departures to Russia, while volunteers scrambled to trace missing men.

What once appeared to be isolated cases has since become a pattern. According to Nepal鈥檚 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at least 118 Nepali nationals have been killed while serving in the Russian army and 132 remain missing 鈥� and about a dozen are now prisoners of war in Ukraine.

Their testimonies 鈥� emerging through official interrogations, media releases, and letters 鈥� offer a rare window into how foreign nationals are being drawn into the conflict.

In an interrogation video published by The Kyiv Independent, for example, a Nepali prisoner describes how he traveled to Russia in search of work after falling into debt, only to be deployed to the front lines with minimal training. 鈥淲e came because of money,鈥� he tells someone off-screen, adding that he was captured within weeks of his first combat mission.

For Ukrainian authorities, such interrogations serve a dual purpose: gathering intelligence while also documenting what they describe as an expanding overseas recruitment network to fill the gaps in Russia鈥檚 war effort.

Indeed, Ukraine has sought to actively encourage defections through its 鈥淚 Want To Live鈥� initiative, which provides Russian soldiers and foreign recruits with guidance on how to surrender safely. Videos of POWs are used to highlight the risks faced by those recruited into the conflict, and to show that surrender is possible. More than 10,000 people have surrendered since 2022, according to the project, and 7% of those detained are foreign nationals.聽

But these POW accounts matter far beyond the front lines.

In one handwritten letter sent home by a Nepali POW earlier this year, there are no military secrets or battlefield details. Instead, it includes requests for family photographs; promises to send biscuits, tea, 鈥渁nd other small things鈥�; and congratulations on a brother鈥檚 wedding.

鈥淚 am safe and in good condition here,鈥� writes the POW, whose family shared the letter with the Monitor on the condition that his name is withheld to protect his safety. 鈥淚 often think about home.鈥�

The letter moves between reassurance and concern. In coiling Devanagari script, the writer asks about his family鈥檚 financial situation, and discusses arrangements for sending money through intermediaries 鈥� underscoring the fragile economic realities that shape many recruits鈥� decision to leave in the first place.聽

Indeed, Nepal has seen a steady outflow of young men seeking work abroad, often driven by limited opportunities at home. Many are drawn to Russia through misleading promises of noncombat roles, and have little or no military training when they arrive in war-torn Ukraine.聽

鈥淭his Russian war is silently creating crises for thousands of families in Nepal,鈥� says Kritu Bhandari, a Kathmandu-based activist who has been helping families track down relatives who joined the Russian army. 鈥淭hese are very unlucky people who ended up in this war because of economic hardships, and now, as prisoners of war, their return to their families has become even more difficult.鈥�

Unlike foreign recruits still inside Russia, prisoners of war being held in Ukraine fall under formal exchange processes negotiated between Kyiv and Moscow, leaving little room for third-country intervention. Ukraine and Russia have conducted periodic prisoner swaps, but these are typically reciprocal, state-to-state exchanges that prioritize their own nationals.

鈥淏ut with the letters coming from [the POWs], at least we know they are alive,鈥� Ms. Bhandari says. 鈥淭here is hope that someday they will reunite with their families.鈥�

In his letter, the Nepali POW alludes to that hope in his sign-off.聽

鈥淚 will return and take care of everything,鈥� he promises. 鈥淧lease don鈥檛 worry too much about me. ... That鈥檚 all for now.鈥�