Jalandhar: The endless search of a Punjab man for his missing brother in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war ended on Saturday (January 3, 2026), when the body of Mandeep Kumar, a resident of Goraya town, Jalandhar district reached home after a long wait of over 22 months.Jagdeep Kumar, the brother of Mandeep said that they received a call from the Indian Embassy in Moscow, Russia on January 2, 2026 confirming the identification of his brother’s body. “I went to Delhi to receive the body and reached home on Saturday,”, he told The Wire.The family had learnt about Mandeep’s death around two-months ago, when the DNA samples provided by them had matched with that of an unidentified body lying at a hospital in Rostov-on-Don, a strategic location near Ukraine.Agitated and in a state of shock, the family has decided not to conduct the cremation of Mandeep till Punjab Police arrests the accused travel agents, who had promised to send him to Italy but instead sent him to Russia.“We had registered an FIR against the travel agents in July 2024 but the police failed to make any arrests. We have decided to put the cremation on hold till justice is done,” said Jagdeep.Mandeep’s family had registered an FIR against Kapurthala district based four travel agents – Sandeep Hans, Ankit Donker, Jashan, and Gurpreet Singh – under for offences including cheating and criminal conspiracy along with section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act, 2014 at Goraya Police station in Jalandhar.‘My son died within days of joining the war but the government failed to save him’Speaking to The Wire, an inconsolable Avtar Chand, the father of Mandeep said that as per Russian Army authorities, his son died within days of joining the war. He was reported missing on March 21, 2024.“The last time he spoke to us was from a Russian number on March 3, 2024, when he was begging us to rescue him. Now, we have learnt that my son died on March 19, 2024. We kept waiting for him all these months while the Union government failed to rescue him,” he broke down while narrating his ordeal.“All we have is his last video, where he was requesting to save him, as the Russian Army had forcibly taken him to the battle front,” he said.In a state of shock, Chand said that while he along with his son Jagdeep went to Russia on October 4, 2024 but nobody informed them anything about their son’s death.“We met the Russian Embassy officials in Delhi before leaving for Russia but nobody helped us. They assured us of every help in Russia. However, once we landed in Moscow, we were on our own. Nobody helped us…,” he added.Earlier also, Jagdeep had gone to Russia in March 2025 along with two other youths from Uttar Pradesh in search of his brother. At that time too, he had returned home empty handed whereas his brother was already dead.Jagdeep told The Wire that his brother was slightly disabled and could not walk properly but was still tricked into joining the Russian Army. “It pains my heart what my brother must have gone through in the war zone. Despite his slight disability, he was forced to join the Russian Army,” he said.“You cannot fight the government. I tried all channels and approached different officials in Russia but still could not save my brother. If the government wanted, they could have saved him but nobody bothered,” he added, sounding helpless.Jagdeep shared that his brother’s body was kept at Rostov-on-Don, a strategic Russian Army base close to Ukraine, where he was planning to visit during his recent visit to Russia. “I tried my best to visit Rostov-on-Don during my recent visit to Russia in December 2025 but the Russian Army did not give me the permission to go there”, he added.Notably, Mandeep, along with 40 others from Punjab and Haryana were among the first few, who were tricked into joining the Russian Army in March 2024.As per the family, Mandeep had initially reached Armenia with his two friends in August 2023. The trio including Mandeep were planning to travel to Italy from there through the Kapurthala based travel agents, when they were trapped in Russia en route.Mandeep’s e-visa issued by Russia’s foreign ministry was valid from December 10, 2023 to February, 2024. However, he was still forced to join the Russian Army, his family added.MEA’s statement claims 202 youths recruited in Russian Army, 26 deadRecently, on December 18, junior minister of external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha that out of 202 youths recruited, 26 people were killed while seven were missing in the Russia-Ukraine war.However, with Mandeep’s death, the total number of dead have gone to 27.The minister had also informed that 119 people had been discharged from the Russian Army through concerted efforts of the Indian government.The minister had also shared that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has aided in repatriation of mortal remains of 10 deceased Indian nationals to India and local cremation of two Indian nationals.Earlier Jagdeep said, “The Russian authorities had kept three persons in the list of missing people and my brother was one among them.”In September 2025, The Wire had reported how seven Indian youths, most of them from Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu, were also forced to join the Russian Army. A video of the helpless youths requesting the union government to save them also surfaced online.“Many among that group were also feared dead. However, the union government is yet to confirm anything about their tragic end,” claimed Jagdeep, who learnt about their demise through Russian authorities.