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Of all the reasons I’ve heard for Nepalis migrating to work abroad, this one was the most shocking: to fight for the Russian Army in its invasion of Ukraine. The news first reached the mainstream media in mid-2023 but long before that, photos of young Nepali men posing in Russian Army uniforms had been circulating online. For the unemployed, or under-employed, Russia quickly became the newest, fastest way to earn foreign currency, topped up in some cases with the promise of an appealing foreign passport.

But soon after, news of growing numbers of battlefield deaths began making headlines, and calls grew for the Nepal Government to intervene. It did ask the Russian government to prevent recruitment, which seems to have happened in recent months, according to reports. But the government says 40 Nepalis are confirmed to have died fighting for Russia and an even larger number of corpses are undergoing DNA tests.

Today’s guest, Khakendra Khatri, was planning to go work in South Korea when he was approached by a Nepali recruiter in Dang district. At first he wasn’t interested but the man persisted for more than a month to sell him the dream. Finally, Khatri agreed that the conditions offered were worth his recruiter’s fee of 7 lakhs (700,000 rupees or 5,200 USD) to buy a spot. He was promised a 5-lakh monthly salary, permanent residency in Russia after 1 year, and the chance to procure a visa in a western country.

Khatri was told that he would be cooking for the soldiers, behind the front lines, but when he got closer to the battlefield he saw that wasn’t accurate—he had been designated as a fighter. The Nepali man  quickly started negotiating a way out.

A quick note before we start: SLC means school leaving certificate, or a grade 10 diploma.

You'll notice that the sound quality isn't at its usual level in this episode. That's because we were missing some equipment in the studio so we had to go to Plan B to produce this one. Apologies for that.

Resources

Article about Khakendra Khatri, Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal

40 deaths confirmed of Nepalis fighting in Russian Army – Kathmandu Post article

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Music by audionautix.com.

Thank you to Himal Media in Patan Dhoka for the use of their studio.