Amid reports of an Indian man being killed while fighting in the Russian Army on the frontlines with Ukraine, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Friday (Jan 17) stressed that currently, there are 126 Indian nationals serving in the Russian Army, further adding that 12 of those have died while fighting with Ukraine. 

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MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal while addressing a weekly briefing detailed the number of Indians currently in Moscow, dead or alive, who went there to serve in the Russian army. 

"As of today, there have been 126 cases (of Indian nationals serving in the Russian Army). Of these 126 cases, 96 people have returned to India and have been discharged from the Russian Armed Forces," Jaiswal said. 

Also read: Ukraine claims to carry out 'most massive strike' on Russia, Moscow vows retaliation

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Among the remaining 30, 12 have been confirmed dead, while 16 have been categorised as "missing" by Russian authorities.

Kerala man killed while fighting with Ukrainian army

The Indian man, who died earlier this week, has been identified as 32-year-old Binil T B, a resident of Wadakkanchery in Kerala’s Thrissur district. At the same time, his relative has sustained serious injuries. 

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Also read: India 'strongly' raises matter of national killed in Ukraine war with Russian authorities

According to the report, Binil's family received a message a few days ago, saying that the two men were injured in an attack from a drone, however, they could not establish contact with them. 

Last month, in a series of voice messages to The Indian Express, Binil said that they had been unsuccessfully knocking on the doors of the Indian embassy in Moscow to get back home. 

Notably, this is the second death of a Keralite while fighting for the Russian army. 

Also read: Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv is seeking English-speaking soldiers

Earlier in August last year, Sandeep, a resident of Thrissur, was killed in a drone attack. 

MEA Spokesperson Jaiswal said that the embassy is in touch with the Russian authorities to bring back his mortal remains to India. 

(With inputs from agencies)