SRINAGAR, India \u2014 Across India<\/a>, families are hearing similar stories from men who went abroad in search of work: They were lured to Russia<\/a> with promises of jobs as cooks or housekeepers, only to find themselves forced to fight alongside the Russian military in its war against Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some families, frustrated by what they say is a lack of support from the Indian government, say they feel they have no choice but to travel to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to get their loved ones back.<\/p>\n \u201cFor months, the families have been awaiting government action to bring the Indian citizens back home, but so far no progress has been made,\u201d Raja Begum, 65, told NBC News last month as she sat in the yard of her two-story home in Poshwan, a village in Indian-administered Kashmir.<\/p>\n Begum\u2019s son Azad Yousuf Kumar, 31, left India for the United Arab Emirates in December. She said he had been promised a housekeeping job in Dubai by a consultant there identified as Faisal Khan, who often advertised such jobs on his YouTube channel, Baba Vlogs. In exchange for the job, Kumar paid a fee of 300,000 rupees, or $3,600, she said.<\/p>\n Once Kumar arrived, however, \u201che was informed that there were no available jobs in the UAE,\u201d said Begum, who has been exchanging voice messages with him. Kumar told his mother that Khan said he could still get a job in another country, and convinced him to travel to Russia to work in a kitchen.<\/p>\n Instead, Begum said, Kumar was sent to a military training center in Moscow as soon as he landed. There he underwent 15 days of weapons training along with several other men from India and Nepal<\/a> before being deployed to fight against Ukrainian forces on the front lines, Begum said, having been forced to sign a contract in a language he did not understand.<\/p>\n \u201cMy son had received injuries during the training period,\u201d Begum said. \u201cHe was not allowed to have a proper rest and instead was sent close to the border where a deadly battle was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Kumar\u2019s older brother, Sajad Ahmad Kumar, said Kumar told him that at least a dozen men from India had been trapped in a similar manner by people affiliated with the Baba Vlogs account, which had more than 350,000 subscribers as recently as February but has since been deleted.<\/p>\n Attempts by NBC News to contact Khan and the Baba Vlogs team for comment were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n