Russia is recruiting Nepalese residents to participate in the war against Ukraine.

The government of Kathmandu has issued a statement demanding that Moscow would not recruit its citizens into the Russian military and return the bodies of six soldiers killed in Ukraine.

Russia is also being urged to pay compensation to the families of the victims, Reuters reports, citing the Nepalese Foreign Ministry.

The Nepal government states that it has asked Moscow to immediately send any Nepali soldier commissioned there back to the Himalayan nation.

Diplomatic efforts are underway to get one Nepali citizen serving the Russian army and captured by the Ukrainian Defense Forces released.

Nepal also urges its citizens not to join the military of any of the warring countries.

The Nepal government stated that six of its nationals, who had been serving the Russian army, were killed, without providing any details.

The Kathmandu Post quotes Milan Raj Tuladhar, Nepal’s Ambassador in Moscow, as saying that 150-200 Nepalis were working as mercenaries in the Russian army.

On Monday, December 4, journalist Andrii Tsaplienko released a video on his Telegram channel of an interrogation of a captured Nepali who fought in the Russian military against Ukraine.

He stated that he was 22 years old and allegedly studied at a Russian university. The POW claims that they wanted to deport him from the Russian Federation, and he was looking for an opportunity to stay. Therefore, he decided to serve in the 70th regiment of the Russian army for RUB 195 thousand per month.

However, the Nepali does not even speak Russian and does not speak English well. Therefore, it is doubtful that he could have entered a Russian educational institution. The journalist assumed that this Nepalese resident was probably just another illegal immigrant.

Previously, the Cuban Ministry of Internal Affairs exposed a Russian network that had been recruiting Cuban citizens to participate in the war against Ukraine.