The disruption to the established recruitment procedure has pushed Gurkha fighters towards Russia, which has also loosened its requirements for citizenship in an effort to entice volunteer fighters to join its forces in Ukraine. In response, Nepal temporarily suspended the recruitment process under the 1947 Tripartite Treaty involving Britain, India and Nepal. Tens of thousands of Gurkhas also serve in the Indian Army.īut last year, India replaced long-term employment with shorter contracts and eliminated pension benefits through the controversial Agnipath Scheme. The Gurkhas, renowned around the world for their combat prowess, have served in the British Army since 1815.

He had considered joining the French Foreign Legion, but was put off by a lengthy and challenging recruitment process.Īt least 50 Gurkhas are believed to have joined the Wagner Group since the beginning of the war, with as many as 200 Nepalese citizens travelling to Russia to join its army.Ī source in the Nepalese government said it did not know exactly how many Gurkhas had joined the mercenary force, but said “we have identified some of these youths and contacted their families to persuade them to return home”. “We are more than two hundred foreign comrades and three Nepali friends,” he said. Now enrolled in the Russian military, he found his prior training in the Nepali Army to be advantageous, as it eased his transition into the Russian forces. If I don’t die in one year, I will live here,” he said, adding that he is receiving a monthly payment equivalent to 50,000 Nepalese rupees (£290), along with insurance coverage, during the rigorous training.Ī former Nepali Army soldier from Karnali Province, who has joined the mercenary group, told Nepal Press that he had found out about “opportunities in the Russian Army” while working as a security guard in Dubai. “After one year, citizenship is also available.

“Our training encompasses the use of advanced weaponry, and it spans throughout the day and sometimes extends into the night,” he said. He said more than a dozen Nepali citizens were undergoing intensive training alongside other foreign fighters at a base near the border with Ukraine. The Gurkha said his physical fitness was key to his acceptance into the army after he applied to join at the end of May. “I had two choices after finishing my studies: to remain unemployed or to join the Russian Army,” one man, who completed his medical degree in Russia and joined its military instead of returning home, told Nepal Press. Other Gurkhas who have joined up with the Kremlin’s forces have done so after completing university studies in Russia. “He told us it’s a risk but the money lured him to go,” he said. Umesh Shahi, a friend of Mr Acharya, told The Telegraph he had travelled to Russia after learning that Moscow was paying good salaries for mercenary fighters.

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