The sad story of Bibek, the shy Nepali chieftain who fought for Russia | Russia-Ukraine war

Time and time again, we read about Russia's efforts to recruit poor people as soldiers in its imperialist war against Ukraine. These efforts are spread across all continents: from Latin America to Africa and Asia. If you happen to know someone who is considering such an option, please tell them not to.

We, as Ukrainians, fight for our homes and families. It is an obvious decision for us, after being attacked by the power of the regime that ruled over us many years ago. We, the Ukrainian people, see our struggle as anti-imperialist.

Personally, I feel more solidarity with the people of the Global South than anyone else. So I am pleading with everyone there that I hope they understand that Russia is another imperialist army. Even if it's not “their” government, it's not the one that's torturing them, it's still a government.

Joining the war means participating in the oppression of other people; it is not worth risking one's life, even with the promise of money.

For me, it is sad to see the poor being recruited or forced to fight for the state. I have seen some of them in the Ukrainian army. The story of one of them has stayed with me.

I met Bibek on the front in eastern Ukraine. He was a Nepalese man fighting in the Russian army who had been captured by Ukrainian forces. Our army was ordered to guard him before he was taken to prison.

Bibek stayed with us longer than we expected, as our managers had to find out where to transfer him.

There is a clear process for Russian prisoners of war (POWs). They are sent to rear camps, where they await the exchange of a POW between Ukraine and a Russian resident.

There is a separate procedure for Ukrainian citizens from the occupied territories who were conscripted into the Russian army. If caught, they face trial in court, where they will be protected by law. The court must decide whether they are forced to cooperate, or whether they surrender voluntarily.

But the process for POWs from third countries was not so clear, at least initially. Bibek was our first such case, so our officers had to make phone calls to find out which authority to refer him to.

Our captive was a tall and handsome young man with beautiful dark eyes. If I remember correctly, I was the one who untied him. I felt for Bibek, and he felt for me. He spoke a little English, so we were able to communicate. “Shall I go home now?” the first thing he asked me.

I almost wanted to cry. He had no sense. The pleading eyes, the shy voice. It seems that Bibek did not realize that he was considered a mercenary by Ukrainian and international law. Now that he was captured and no longer fighting, he could go home, Bibek seemed to believe. Or maybe, that's what he wanted to believe.

Bibek was very different from the typical image of a “soldier with a job”. He was a shy and gentle child, that's what he was. During the interrogation, he honestly told us his name, rank, army, circumstances, etc. He said he came to Ukraine with the Russian army because he needed money to help his mother. He said he was the only child. And his mother was poor and sick, he said.

I translated his answers to the policeman. I also spoke to him very privately while he was with us. Apart from food and water, I also gave him my paracetamol tablets and antibiotics, hoping that they would help with the wound on his left thigh. I bought him cigarettes, even though that wasn't really allowed.

Bibek told me that he came to Russia on a student visa with the intention of doing undocumented work to help his mother. He worked in the park in a small factory and was paid in cash. One day, he was promised by a Nepali, who was being recruited, to work as a “cook” for the “security service” in Moscow to earn him 12 times what he was getting at the factory. He took the job.

However, instead of going to Moscow, Bibek was immediately sent to Donetsk in the Ukrainian part, where he trained as a storm trooper. Just a week later, he was sent to attack Ukrainian positions.

Bibek said he was caught in his first battle because he got lost and lost his team again in the smoke, roar and panic. There were other Nepalese people in his group, but he did not know what happened to them.

What was most strange to me was that I could not feel hatred towards Bibek, not at all. Although, technically, he had come to my country to kill me, because of the money, I could not see “chief” in him. I saw a young man who lost the years my son had become. He and I can be friends under different circumstances, I thought.

There was another Ukrainian soldier, a devout Catholic, who was also “very sympathetic to the enemy”, as some in our unit thought. Both of us, the Catholic boy and I, were teased by our fellow soldiers. Therefore, I named the Catholics and myself, ironically and defensively, the “Mother Teresa group”.

I don't know exactly what happened to Bibek after the authorities came to our unit and took him away. However, later I saw his video on the Internet. It was a transcript of the court's questioning that identified him and other guards.

After meeting Bibek, I learned that Russia attracts and mistreats thousands of others like him from various countries. Mostly, these are people from Asia and Africa and mostly, they come from the poorest. Sometimes, they are undocumented workers in Russia who are threatened with deportation. They are promised “jobs” in transport or hospitals or cooking, as was the case with Bibek, before being sent to the front line to be used as cannon fodder.

Many are killed. Some are “lucky” and caught alive, but face the possibility of spending years in prison.

All this is painful to see.

Every time I hear about the mass of Russian troops from the Global South being deployed, I think of Bibek's bright eyes. I hear his shy voice. And I pity his wasted youth.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.

The document is part of a joint initiative by the Ukraine Institute, UkraineWorld and PEN Ukraine.

Artem Chapeye was also a signatory to the Ukrainian letter of solidarity with the Palestinian people published by Al Jazeera.