Held in Ukraine for 33 Months, Nepali Prisoner of War Appeals to Kathmandu for Freedom
Pratik Pun, a 24-year-old native of Nepal’s Rolpa district held as a prisoner of war in western Ukraine for 33 months, has made an urgent plea to the Nepali government to establish formal diplomatic interventions to secure his freedom. Speaking in an exclusive Zoom interview from a detention facility in the Lviv region, Pun recounted how economic hardship following his father’s death, along with recruiter promises of high salaries and rear-area logistical duties, led him to enlist in the Russian military in September 2023. After signing a Russian-language contract he could not read and receiving barely two weeks of basic training, Pun was dispatched directly to front-line combat and captured by Ukrainian forces shortly after in November 2023. While reporting fair conditions and occasional written contact with his family via the International Committee of the Red Cross, Pun stated he has had virtually no interaction with Nepali diplomats over his nearly three-year captivity, during which anticipated prisoner exchanges failed to materialize. Emphasizing his willingness to be repatriated to either Nepal or Russia, Pun urged authorities in Kathmandu to coordinate with Kyiv to negotiate the release of himself and roughly nine other Nepali foreign fighters currently held in Ukrainian custody.
