Imprisoned Gujarat Youth Reconnects With Mother From Ukraine Detention Over Video Call
The family now sees hope in Supreme Court advocate Deepa Joseph who has travelled to Ukraine to meet Sahil.
Published : January 6, 2026 at 7:36 PM IST
|Updated : January 6, 2026 at 8:47 PM IST
Morbi: Sahil Majothi of Morbi district in Gujarat who is imprisoned in Ukraine spoke to his mother through a video call on Monday. His family has repeatedly appealed to the Indian government for intervention in his case and seek his release.
The family now sees hope in Supreme Court advocate Deepa Joseph who has traveled to Ukraine to meet Sahil. She has offered to fight Sahil's case for free. Deepa Joseph is from Kerala and is associated with the social organization Distress Management Collective. She is representing Sahil on a pro bono basis. As part of this effort, she traveled to Ukraine to meet Sahil and learn about the entire incident.
Sahil had gone to Russia to study computer engineering. His mother Hasinaben Majothi disclosed that her 22-year-old son was working for a courier company while studying in Russia. She claims that he was wrongfully accused to be in possession of 20 grams of drugs and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Russian authorities allegedly offered him various inducements to fight on behalf of the Russian army in the ongoing war with Ukraine. It is learnt that he surrendered before the Ukrainian army before fighting on the battlefield. He has been in a detention center in Kyiv since October. He has appealed to the Indian government to bring him back to his country.
His mother has been campaigning to bring her son back and has presented her case to the Prime Minister, President and a court in Delhi. The petition before Delhi court is to be heard in February.
Monday’s Whatsapp video call to his mother lasted 18 minutes where the mother and son simply stared at each other with tearful eyes for 10 minutes. Haseenaben later said, "Unfortunately, the video was recorded on the WhatsApp but there was no audio available."
Sahil is learnt to have spoken to his mother on a WhatsApp video call after almost a year. “The video of the WhatsApp call was recorded but due to technical reasons, its audio could not be recorded. I am worried when I will hear his voice again,” Hasinaben said while expressing relief at her son being alive. The family is hoping for Sahil’s safe return to his homeland as soon as possible.
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