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The Russian scam luring Nepalese men with the promise of a better life, only to drop them on the battlefield in Ukraine

The alleged scam luring Nepali men to Russia — only to drop them on the battlefield in Ukraine

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-17/nepalese-mercenaries-lured-to-russia-to-fight-in-ukraine/103580652

A document leaked to the ABC shows a worrying number of Nepalese men have joined the Russian army. But some appear to have been lured into Putin's war under false pretences.

The alleged scam luring Nepali men to Russia — only to drop them on the battlefield in Ukraine

8 comments

Eheran

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Tens of thousands of dollars? That kind of money is not exactly nothing, even for Western people.

Then, suddenly, Ukrainian drones began firing bullets and tear gas at the men.

Note there are no drones that shoot except for (one?) very special cases where they drove on a road. Dropping tear gas would be a war crime and we know Russia is doing that. He might have been hit green on green.

hydroptic

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Dropping tear gas would be a war crime and we know Russia is doing that. He might have been hit green on green.

That would really be par for the course for Russians. They have of course been claiming that Ukrainians have been using drone-dropped tear gas grenades, but I would bet one of my kidneys that that's just the same old "NO U" they do with every war crime they commit.

At least based on Ukrainian sources (see eg this article from the Arms Control Association), it seems like Russians have been using more chemical weapons in the recent months. Tear gas (CS) and chloropicrin (PS) have been said to be used, both of which would make sense as they have Soviet stock grenades for both.

At least they're both still on the milder end of agents, although neither is exactly a joke in the sort of concentrations used in military applications. PS especially will fuck your lungs up

Maalus

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Tear gas is banned for military use not because it's exceptionally harmful, but because all chemical weapons are banned. The exception being tear gas use for riot control. One could argue that seeing some kind of chemical weapon used (like tear gas) could lead the other side to use ones that kill in minutes (novichok, sarin) since it's kinda hard to determine what's comming "your way" in that situation.

T156

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It's also indiscriminate and persistent, so you could have medics and things caught in the crossfire, even if they arrive afterwards, and weren't the intended targets.

hydroptic

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Yep, I think the blanket ban makes sense exactly due to the reasons you outlined. My point was more that at least it's not like they're just chucking Novichok agents at the Ukrainians, and are sticking to less horrible agents at least for now. Still a war crime and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of either of those – even just CS at high enough concentrations will make your skin feel like it's on fire, and I can say from experience that it's not fun at all. While PS is technically for riot control, it's classified as a lung damaging agent and in high concentrations can even kill

HaywardT

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Filling your trenches with armed and captured foreigners would seem to make it an inhospitable place.

Pulpogarden

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A better life in the afterlife (the latter intentionally omitted)

autotldr

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This is the best summary I could come up with:

The war was not quite the weekend romp Russian President Vladimir Putin envisioned, with his troops facing fierce resistance from a well-armed Ukrainian army.

In 2022, Putin mobilised 300,000 Russian men to bolster his efforts in Ukraine, and relied on mercenary groups like Wagner to boost numbers with dastardly strategies like recruiting convicts straight out of penal colonies.

But the ABC has obtained a confidential document from Nepal's foreign ministry that shows 240 families have informed the department about relatives who have joined the Russian army.

Typically, a recruiter or agent approaches you with an education or job opportunity in Russia and all you're required to do is deposit tens of thousands of dollars into a nominated bank account to arrange all the paperwork and travel costs.

A travel agent will get you into a city like Dubai or Kuala Lumpur — places where it is fairly easy for Nepalese to get a tourist visa.

In a small village, Ganga Dhakal and her husband wait for their only son Siddhartha, who went to fight for Russia late last year.

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