As they live in the mountainous regions of Nepal, they are familiar with harsh weather conditions, adverse situations and difficult road networks. This inaccessibility and adversity have made the Gurkhas seasoned and tough. They are the fearless warriors of the mountainous regions of the Himalayan country. War is their profession, and they have been taking part in war in their own style for centuries. Gurkhas are also invited to participate in war in foreign countries. The Nepalese media have reported that Gurkha youths are joining the Russian Army to fight against the Ukrainian Forces. They even have started leaving the remote mountainous areas of Nepal for Moscow.

Reports suggest that Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has been calling on foreign fighters to bolster the Russian Army since he invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. He has assured the foreign soldiers that they, and their family members, would get permanent citizenship of Russia, if they serve the Russian Army for at least one year. It seems that the Russian strongman’s assurance has inspired the Gurkhas to join the Russian Army. They believe that Russian citizenship would help them secure their future. The salary structure of the Russian Forces, too, has attracted them to join the Army. Defence experts are of the opinion that the Gurkha fighters have become trump cards of President Putin in the war against Ukraine. They believe that the courage of Nepalese youths has impressed the Russian President, who is trying to recruit the Gurkhas as much as possible in his Army. He may also recruit other foreign soldiers in the coming months.

Interestingly, the colonial British rulers had discovered the Gurkhas in the late 19th Century. The British East India Company invaded Nepal in the 19th Century, and lost many soldiers during that war. Nepal forced the Company to declare a cease-fire in 1815, and to sign a Peace Treaty with the Himalayan nation. As per the Treaty, Nepal allowed Britain to recruit Gurkha fighters in the British Army. Initially, the British Indian Army had a Gurkha Regiment. After India’s Independence (in 1947), the Regiment was included in the Royal British Army. Even today, the Gurkhas are one of the most important parts of the British Army. Although they are recruited from Nepal, the Gurkhas stay in Britain and serve for the British Army, they return to Nepal only after their retirement. They do not get citizenship of Britain. Even, their pay structure and pension are lower than that of common British Army personnel. The Nepalese Gurkhas have been staging protests against the British Government for a long time because of this discrimination.

The Gurkha Army is one of the fiercest warriors in the world. As per their tradition, the Gurkhas carry an 18-inch-long curved knife, popularly known as Kukri, with them. The kukri is a special type of short sword with a distinct recurve in its blade, originated in the Indian Subcontinent. It serves multiple purposes, as a melee weapon and also as a regular cutting tool throughout most of the region. However, the Gurkhas also use modern weapons. There are a number of folklores about the kukri. It is said that a sharp kukri is actually bloodthirsty. Once a Gurkha soldier goes to the battlefield, he cannot return without killing an enemy with his kukri. If he fails to kill somebody with that kukri, the person cuts a part of his own body in order to wash the weapon with blood. Many Gurkhas have abandoned this practice. Nowadays they also use kukri for cooking purposes. However, the Gurkhas still believe that it is honourable to die on the battlefield than to be a coward.

The Gurkhas have fought for the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent times. The British Army also sent them to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, Cyprus and some other countries to take part in the war. A few Gurkhas get the opportunity to serve the British Army through a very tough recruitment process, as they are asked to run straight along the hilly road for 40 minutes, with a 31kg bag, full of stones, on their back.

Now, the Gurkhas have started joining the Russian Army chiefly to get Russian citizenship. However, the Embassy of Nepal in Moscow has no official information about this! The language barrier was supposed to be a major problem for the Gurkhas. However, the Kremlin has announced that one can join the Russian Army, if he knows English. This policy has made it easier for the Gurkhas to join the Russian Army.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das