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Residents from Nepal are fighting on both sides of the war in Ukraine, reports The New York Times.
Since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year, hundreds of men from Nepal have joined primarily the Russian side, the American newspaper reports.
The impoverished mountainous country of Nepal is struggling with inflation and unemployment, and hundreds of thousands have left the country in search of work abroad. About a thousand are said to be living in Russia, and some of them jumped at the chance when the country’s President Vladimir Putin announced that in exchange for being drafted, they could get citizenship faster.
After a short period of training, the recruits are sent to Ukraine, according to the newspaper’s informant.
“Okay with English”
A man who had previously been a soldier in Nepal and who worked as a security guard in Dubai was lured to move to Russia to enlist.
“Previously, they were looking for those who spoke Russian well. Now they are okay even with English,” the soldier wrote via Telegram to The Diplomat.
Although most fight for the Russian side, a group of Nepalese have also joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
– If the situation continues, Nepalis will kill each other in the Russia-Ukraine war, says the Nepali member of parliament Rajendra Bajgain to The New York Times.
Gurkha soldiers
That young residents from Nepal are fighting abroad goes against the country’s neutral stance in the conflict. But Nepalis have a long history of serving in the British and Indian armed forces, as so-called Gurkhas. In the British army today there are 4,000 Gurkha soldiers, who are selected after rigorous tests where thousands apply for a few hundred jobs.