New Delhi: Resuming its hearing of a plea by the families of 26 Indians who were allegedly forced to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war and where the relatives allege official failure to regulate illegal recruitment networks, the Supreme Court directed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to file a detailed status report.During the hearing on Friday (April 24), where the petitioners and the Union government traded accusations of non-cooperation, the government also confirmed that ten of the 26 Indian nationals whose families have approached the court are dead. Another is in jail and one more is “voluntarily continuing” his service, additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati said.She said that while the government is following a “multi-pronged strategy” involving advising youths not to travel to Russia, “they enter into voluntary contracts” anyway, although she acknowledged that some people were misled, The Hindu reported.Bhati, who said the government has been in touch with the “family members of each one [of] these citizens”, also alleged non-cooperation on part of the family of one of the deceased. Although the relatives had asked the government to repatriate his remains, “yesterday they said, ‘Now you keep the mortal remains, we are going to court’,” she stated.“I have brought the emails … There are difficulties … we understand the human angle … They have to cooperate with us. We are with every Indian citizen who needs our support,” the newspaper quoted her as saying.However, the counsel for the petitioners denied that there was any voluntary enlistment and said the men were forced to fight in the war after their passports were confiscated, per LiveLaw. In response, Bhati confirmed that one such agent has been arrested.The petitioners’ counsel further alleged that the MEA had neither contacted the families nor collected their DNA samples to identify bodies, despite 120 representations sent over the past few months.“Unauthorised persons are helping us [more] than the MEA itself … at least they should be directed to collect our DNA samples,” LiveLaw quoted the counsel as urging. The petitioners also requested the bench to view a video sent by one of the victims detailing his plight.Noting the sensitivity of the issue, Chief Justice Surya Kant remarked that the matter “needs to be tactfully handled” and noted that recovering mortal remains from a war zone might be a near impossibility.The bench directed the MEA to file a detailed status report outlining the steps it has taken.Filed on March 25 this year, the petition currently being heard by a three-judge Supreme Court bench alleges that the government has failed to regulate illegal recruitment networks and secure consular access to enlisted Indian citizens.Responding to a question in parliament in December, the MEA said that 26 Indian nationals who were recruited into the Russian armed forces are reported to have been killed and that seven others were reported missing by Moscow. The government had secured the early release of 119 Indians, was attempting to get 50 others released and had helped repatriate the remains of ten Indian citizens, it said.“DNA samples of family members of 18 Indians, who were reported dead or missing, have been shared with the Russian authorities in an effort to help establish the identity of some of the deceased Indian nationals,” it added.This issue has been raised repeatedly with Moscow, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2024 visit to Russia. Then-foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra had stated that the prime minister “strongly raised” the matter with Russian authorities, whom he said “promised [the] early discharge of all Indian nationals from the service of the Russian army”.