New Delhi: An Indian woman living in Moscow has appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for help after claiming that the Russian police detained her husband and were pressuring him to join the country’s military.
Sneha Gupta shared an emotional video on X seeking urgent help. She said her husband Chandan Gupta, an engineer from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, has been picked up by the Russian police and is being kept in jail.
The video prompted a response from New Delhi. Government sources said the Indian Embassy in Moscow is in contact with local authorities and is working to secure the Indian national’s release.
Officials gave details about why Gupta was detained. According to them, he was taken into custody along with a friend in Moscow on September 5 and faces allegations of being drunk and damaging the windows of a nearby ambulance.
In her video appeal, she said her family lives in Moscow on her husband's Highly Qualified Specialist visa. She said Chandan works for an Indian company and had obtained the visa through his Noida-based employer.
She said the Russian police arrested him at around 12:30 pm on Sunday (September 6) and sentenced him to jail. According to her, he had done nothing wrong.
She then made a more serious allegation, claiming that the police were putting pressure on Chandan to join the Russian military and fight against Ukraine. She claimed Russia is facing a shortage of soldiers and is trying to recruit foreign nationals, including Indians, into its armed forces.
Sneha also alleged the police have harassed her husband around the Moscow Day before he was detained. She did not provide evidence in support her allegation.
She said the couple has a 10-year-old son and the family is in distress by the situation. She asked the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to intervene and help secure her husband's safe release.
Sneha Gupta, who is currently living in Moscow with her 10-year-old son, has alleged that Russian police took her husband, Chandan Gupta, into custody and that he may be forcibly enlisted in the Russian army. Chandan, an engineer from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, had been working in… pic.twitter.com/E9iXlVFL6H
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) September 7, 2026
According to the sources, Chandan is an employee of Flex Films Rus LLC, the local subsidiary of Flex Films. He and his friend Ashish were detained at around 11:30 pm local time on September 5 in the Red Square area of Moscow. They are accused of being drunk and breaking the windows of an ambulance parked nearby.
“At present, he is detaained at Moscow’s Baumanskaya police station. The embassy has taken up the matter with local authorities and sought his release. It has also requested consular access,” the sources said.
Consular access would allow embassy officials to meet him and check on his situation.
The sources did not comment on Sneha's allegation that Russian authorities are trying to force her husband into military service.
Sneha's allegation comes at a time when India has been dealing with cases of citizens being taken to Russia with promises of jobs and later ending up in the country’s army.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said earlier this month that 227 Indian citizens had been recruited into the Russian armed forces. Of these, 139 had been released from service, while 51 had died.
The ministry said India was in talks with Russia to secure the release of the remaining Indian nationals and bring them back home as soon as possible.
That background may have added to Sneha's fears after her husband's detention. The information available so far does not establish that Chandan was being recruited into the Russian military.
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