A new video released by an Ukrainian government channel features Sahil Mohammad Hussein Majothi, the 23-year-old Indian citizen who was captured by Ukrainian forces at his prison camp.
In the video, Sahil is interviewed by Indian Lawyer Deepa Joseph, who visits the detention centre which houses prisoners of war captured from Russian forces by the Ukrainian military. Joseph is a representative for his mother, Hassina Banu, in the High Court of Delhi.
Sahil has been captive in Kyiv since October 2015. The meeting between them was arranged by the “I Want to Live” project.
During the interview, the 23-year-old tells Joseph that he went to Russia to study and started doing a part-time delivery job with an application he found on Telegram. He soon found out that he was delivering narcotic substances for the company he was working for.
On one delivery, he was asked to go to a location using coordinates, which ultimately led to him being imprisoned and eventually tricked into joining the Russian military. He was sent to the front lines and asked to work in operating drones, as he had a background in engineering.
The prison camp lets Joseph examine the premises and the living conditions of the detainees in the video. Sahil says that he is being treated well and says that “physically and emotionally, I feel good. I don't have any problem. It's a good environment.”
Towards the end, he says that he “wants to leave” and that he was happy he was able to contact his mother again.
Sahil had last appealed to the Indian government to help him return from Ukraine in December.
The interview was released by the “I Want to Live” project run by Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which was set up with the help of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Defence Intelligence.
The project is “intended for servicemen of the Russian armed forces willing to voluntarily surrender into captivity”, according to its website. The channel allows Russian army servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine to contact their families and return home.
Deepa Joseph appealed to Indian authorities to enable Sahil’s return back home to Gujarat after the interview.