Ukraine has urged developing countries including Nepal to stop their citizens from being recruited to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government said so on Friday presenting what it claimed were eight prisoners of war from including five men from Nepal, and one each from Cuba, Somalia and Sierra Leone, according to Reuters.
"By showing these citizens who are captured, we are saying that perhaps it is necessary to use more radical, more effective steps so that tens, hundreds of these people won't be conned by agitators," Reuters quoted Petro Yatsenko, a representative at the Ukrainian government's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, as telling reporters in Kyiv.
"If we take a country with a low level of income per population, there is a high probability that some citizens of that country may be recruited by Russia and used as storm troopers, cannon fodder."
Spokesperson with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Bahadur Rai on Sunday has claimed that the government already knew about capture of those five Nepalis and added that the Ukrainian authorities apparently recorded their statement for the second time. “They were made public in course of that. They are not new prisoners of war,” Rai has added.
Rai has revealed that the five presented by Ukraine on Friday were among the six previously captured Nepalis. Rai has identified the six as Bibek Khatri of Rajapur Municipality 1, Bardiya; Siddhartha Dhakal of Mandan Deupur Municipality 6, Kavre; Bikash Rai of Letang Municipality 2, Morang; Pratik Pun of Dang; Sujan Subedi of Khairahani, Chitwan; and Ishwar Lamichhane of Gorkha.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said that seven more Nepalis serving in Russian forces were killed in Ukraine.
Earlier, the government had confirmed the deaths of 12 Nepalis who had joined Russian forces. The latest confirmation takes the death toll of Nepalis serving in Russian forces to 19.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, Purna Bahadur Gurung of Dhading, Nabin Shahi of Jajarkot, Padam Bahadur Ghimire of Udayapur, Ganga Ram Adhikari of Jhapa, Jit Bahadur BK of Baglung, Sanjay KC of Banke and Sundar Moktan of Rasuwa died while fighting for Russian forces.
The ministry made clear in the statement that Nepali nationals are not allowed to join foreign armies except for those of some friendly countries.
It also said that the government had been making diplomatic efforts to bring back Nepali nationals who have joined Russian forces.
The government also requested the Russian government to provide compensation to the families of Nepalis who have lost their lives, to provide treatment to those who have been injured and send them back to Nepal.
