Who is Faisal Khan, Mumbai YouTuber who 'duped' Indians to work for Russian army?
Faisal Khan, who became famous for his YouTube channel Baba Vlogs, posted several videos promising jobs to people in countries like Russia, Dubai, Serbia, Singapore among others. In a video uploaded on his channel in September 2023, he can be heard talking about the benefits of joining the Russian army.
FollowTwo Indians have died after being tricked into the Russia-Ukraine war. The involvement of an Indian YouTuber who enticed individuals with the prospect of high-paying positions in the Russian military has emerged as the inquiry into the subject proceeds.
The issue is being "strongly" addressed by the Ministry of External Affairs, which has also called for the "early discharge" of Indian nationals who were tricked into joining the Russian army.
According to The Indian Express, Faisal Khan, who is in his mid-30s, is the owner of a personnel consultancy company that sources labor from other nations. After dropping out of class six in Mumbai's Dadar, he moved to Dubai in 2008 to work as a salesperson. In 2016, he launched his consulting practice. Later on, he created the Baba Vlogs YouTube channel, which currently has three lakh subscribers. While he primarily focused on sending individuals to Dubai, he expanded to other countries from October 2022, including Armenia, Croatia, and Singapore, reported Times Now.
What did his video say?
On January 8th, he uploaded his most recent video, in which he discussed getting a visitation visa to New Zealand. In 2018, he was questioned by Indian authorities after a man he sent to Dubai claimed he had been converted to Islam.
According to the Indian Express, he began promoting jobs in Russia in July 2023. In his videos, Khan said that after three months of training, people employed by the Russian Army would get wages ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh. In the videos, he asserted that the army need personnel to clean destroyed structures and look after weapons and ammo.
Reports suggest that he also demanded an initial fee of Rs 3 lakh for his company. He also claimed there wouldn’t be any risk involved and that he had personally verified the safety of the jobs on offer.Â
He allegedly sent a large number of Indians to Russia, one of whom was Mohammed Afsan , who died in the war in Ukraine.
