The Kashmir Pulse

PULWAMA — An alleged job fraud has left a youth from southern Kashmir’s Awantipora stranded in Russia, where he finds himself caught up in the conflict in Ukraine, fighting for his life.

Azad Yousuf Kumar (32), son of Mohammad Yousuf Kumar, a resident of Poshwan village in the Awantipora area of Pulwama district, is currently stuck at the Russian border, entangled in a war with which he has no connection.

According to Azad's family members, he had initially planned to seek employment in Dubai. However, after contacting a YouTuber named Faisal Khan from Mumbai, who purportedly assists Indian youth in securing jobs abroad, Azad found himself in a situation far removed from his intentions.

“In December last year, he (Azad) left home to secure a job in Dubai. However, a few days later, he informed us that he was in Dubai. It later came to the fore that the consultancy agent had made him sign a contract in Russian, following which he was taken to Russia to participate in their conflict,” his family lamented.

Despite being in contact with him through social media, Azad's family was shocked to learn that instead of finding employment in Dubai, he was thrust into the turmoil of war-torn Russia, where he claimed to have been shot and injured by the Ukrainian Army.

With a four-month-old baby at home, his family members are gravely concerned about his safety and well-being. They have appealed to the authorities to intervene in the matter and facilitate Azad's safe return home. They have specifically requested the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs in ensuring his safe repatriation.

Former Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, wrote on X: “Request @DrSJaishankar ji @MEAIndia to intervene in facilitating the return of Azad Yousaf Kumar from Awantipora forcibly deployed into the Russian army to fight against Ukraine. The family is extremely distressed & worried about his safety.”

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement issued on Monday assured that every such case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly pursued with the Russian authorities.

It said the cases brought to the attention of the Ministry have been taken up with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi, which have led to the discharge of several Indian nationals.

“We remain committed, as a matter of top priority, to actively pursuing with the Russian authorities all the relevant cases of Indian nationals for an early discharge from the Russian army,” the MEA said.

The US has yet again come into the spotlight of the world after a series of secret and confidential documents are leaked by anonymous people. Experts suggest that this is the second time that intimate documents have appeared on social media. In one such incident, a document was leaked by Edward Snowden.

The documents were released in a sequence discussing the US official assessment and its position on Russia and Ukraine war, including the assessment of casualties and the weapons supply and ammunition required for Ukraine to sustain the Russian offensive. Data presented in the documents suggest Ukraine suffered tremendous losses and faces an acute shortage of air defense systems against Russia.

The Ukraine resistance forces in the battle of Bakhmut were cornered and on the verge of suffering catastrophic losses. The document accuses the US of spying on its allies and these leaks also indicate the US has actively spied on the top Ukrainian military generals and political leaders.

The report also adds the US also spied on Israel as well. These documents also reveal that allied countries like South Korea and Israel were reluctant in sending their lethal weapons to war-torn Ukraine fearing international backlash. Israel’s reluctance can be traced back to Russia and Israel’s understanding of Syria.

The current uprisings in Israel are perpetuated by Mossad, as per the published report. In addition, the report also suggests that Russian Wagner is actively procuring weapons from African countries and NATO alliances.

Experts believe that the first report was leaked on the internet sites and hence the US has begun an investigation into the matter. Others believe that it is a fictional story created by Russia to demoralize the Ukrainian forces. These reports have also been rejected by South Korea, France and Israel as well.

In conclusion, the US seems to be in a bit hurry to track down the material, as these leaks have stirred up controversies in global politics.

SRINAGAR — A Ukrainian woman married in Tral hamlet of Pulwama district has urged everyone in the world to play their role in stopping the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Aliza, who has adopted the name Asiya after converting to Islam, urged all leaders to play their role in stopping the war.

Married to Bilal Ahmad from Mandura Tral in 2014, Asiya is now a mother of two and has been living in Kashmir since then.

Asiya, while talking with the news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that the situation in Ukraine is very bad and she has been in touch with her parents who are in the worn-torn country.

"Russia has been targeting civilians and kids which isn't good. They should fight with soldiers only and nobody in the world should support Russian aggression as today they are targeting my country, tomorrow your country could be targeted," Asiya said.

"Ukrainians are fighting the fight bravely and they need support and everybody must support them with food, medicines and whatever way they can," she said.

Asiya requested the United Nations and other countries to put pressure on Russia so that this war could end and Ukrainian will heave a sigh of relief.

Her husband Bilal Ahmad said that his wife is very much concerned about her country and has been in depression since the war started. "She is much more concerned about her parents and other countrymen as well and at times, she refuses to eat anything and spends more time watching the news on phone about her country," Bilal said.

Bilal Ahmad, who is a businessman, had met Aliza (now Asiya) in Goa in the year 2013 and fell in love and tied the knot in the year 2014.

NEW DELHI — Around 200 students and Indian citizens from Ukraine have been evacuated from Ukraine and brought back to India as part of the Government of India’s 'Operation Ganga'.

Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers received the evacuees, most of them students, at Indira Gandhi International airport. The special Indigo flight landed in Delhi today morning.

Coming back to India and meeting with families, students expressed gratitude towards the Union Government.

A young student on the flight remarked, with tears of joy, the safe evacuation from a war strife country is no miracle and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it possible.

Indigo flight had taken off from the Istanbul International Airport, at 10:35 pm (IST) on Wednesday and reached New Delhi at 8:31 am today.

Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo and SpiceJet have joined the 'Operation Ganga' mission operating multiple flights from Ukraine's neighbouring countries to Delhi and Mumbai.

GENEVA — The UN human rights office says 227 civilians have been killed and another 525 injured in its latest count of the toll in Ukraine in the wake of Russia's military invasion that began a week ago.

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says the tally eclipses the entire civilian casualty count from the war in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in 2014 which left 136 dead and 577 injured.

The rights office admits that the figures so far are a vast undercount. It uses a strict methodology and counts only confirmed casualties. Ukrainian officials have presented far higher numbers.

The rights office said in a statement late Wednesday that real figures are considerably higher, especially in the government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations, where intensive hostilities have been going on, was delayed and many reports were still pending corroboration.

Most of the casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems and airstrikes, the rights office said.

SRINAGAR — The worries of the families of J-K students stranded in war-torn Ukraine have manifolded after the death of an Indian student in the shelling. However, most families are heaving a sigh of relief as their wards have left Ukraine and entered Poland and other neighbouring countries.

A student from Kashmir, who was stranded in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine, told the news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that after spending several nights in Kharkiv while hearing sounds of shells, he has somehow managed to reach Poland.

“After a week, I am feeling safe as I have reached Poland. I am hopeful that I will reach home safely,” he said.

Another student from Kashmir stranded in Kharkiv while talking with KNO said that he, along with other few Kashmiri students, have finally managed to reach Poland.

He said that they are in contact with the Indian Embassy and other officials and are hopeful that they will reach home safely. He added that most of the students from Kashmir who were in touch with them have already reached other countries.

Families of students are also hopeful that their wards will reach home safely and have requested the government to make efforts to evacuate all J-K students who are still in the war-torn country.

The J-K government has already established helpline numbers in this regard. Besides, the Government of India is also making efforts to bring back all students and other persons stranded in Ukraine.

SRINAGAR — The Divisional Administration Kashmir has established a helpline for those residents/students of Kashmir who are stuck in Ukraine.

In case of any assistance from the government, the concerned and their family members can contact on the following phone numbers: 01942457312 and 01942473135.

It is pertinent to mention here that on February 22, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian military forces to enter the breakaway Ukrainian republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, calling the act a "peacekeeping mission". Putin also officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as sovereign states, fully independent from the Ukrainian government.

In the early hours of February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" to "demilitarize and de-Nazify" Ukraine, and launched a large-scale invasion of the country. Later in the day, the Ukrainian government announced that Russia had taken control of Chernobyl.

Ukraine asked for immediate admission to the European Union on February 28, 2022, in response to the invasion.