LUDHIANA: They sent this cheerful, smiling young man to a foreign land in the hope of a better life. They put him back in a coffin, dressed in an alien suit, without answering how or why he died. Samajit Singh of Ludhiana had gone to Russia in 2025 for higher education and a better job but was killed in the Ukraine war while fighting for Russia. A few months after Samarjit moved to Russia, his family lost all contact. Contact with him was lost in September, leading his relatives to spend months pleading with Indian government agencies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for assistance. The family’s worst fears were confirmed on Wednesday when Russian officials informed them that Samarjit had died and his body had been sent to Delhi. “We tried everything but no one supported us when we needed it most,” said his father, Charanjeet Singh. “Now we only have his uniform, his death certificate and documents in Russian that we can’t even read.”


