Cumilla's Sagar killed in Russia-Ukraine war; ailing parents plead for his body to be brought home

Md Sagar Abdullah, a young man from Chandina in Cumilla, went to Russia with the dream of ending his family's hardship. He worked at a bakery there, earning about 70,000 taka a month. But lured by the promise of earning more, he became involved in the Russia-Ukraine war through a Bangladeshi broker — and lost his life in that war.

Four to five months after his death, the family learned of it last Saturday through a phone call from a fellow fighter. His ailing parents are now seeking the government's help to bring their son's body back home.

Sagar's home is in the Chhaykot area of Chandina municipality in Cumilla. He was the youngest of three sisters and two brothers. The family's dreams centred on him — that he would earn abroad and take charge of the household, arrange his sick father's treatment and end his mother's days of hardship. Those dreams have now turned into tears.

Visiting Sagar's home in Chhaykot village, his bereaved father Kabir Hossain was found sitting by the pond, paying no attention to who was coming or going from the house.

On learning that journalists had come, Kabir Hossain broke down in tears. Muttering, he kept saying that he once ran the family by pulling a rickshaw. After falling ill in a road accident, he could no longer pull one. Meanwhile, cancer has been detected in his body. To cover her husband's treatment and the household expenses, his wife Delowara Begum works as a labourer at a local factory.

To change the family's financial condition, Kabir Hossain sent Sagar to Russia in mid-2025, spending about 900,000 taka raised through loans. Sagar earned about 70,000 taka a month working at a bakery there, and relatives had begun to hope the family's hardship would end.

But while working at the bakery, Sagar met a Bangladeshi broker who lured him with the offer of a job in the Russian army. Ignoring his family's objections, Sagar went to join the war in May this year. From then on, all contact between him and his family stopped.

For four to five long months the parents passed their days in anxiety, with no news of their son. Finally, last Saturday, they received news of Sagar's death through a phone call from a fellow fighter friend. The family members broke down at the sudden news.

Sagar's sister said her brother had gone abroad to end the family's hardship, and the family had many dreams around him. They cannot accept that he is no longer alive. She made an earnest appeal to the government to bring her brother's body home for a final farewell.

Sagar's neighbours also expressed grief at the news of his death. They demanded that those concerned be vigilant so that no other young man falls victim to such deception in the hope of a good job abroad.

Sagar's father Kabir Hossain said, 'I had to borrow a lot of money to send my son abroad.' He had hoped his son would earn, take charge of the family and arrange his treatment. But having lost his son, he has now been left destitute. He demanded that the government arrange to bring his son's body back to the country.

Mother Delowara Begum cannot stop crying at the news of her son's death. Day and night she weeps holding his photograph, and keeps looking at her mobile phone screen again and again, in case a call comes from her son, in case he calls out 'Ma' one more time. Her son is dead — she has pleaded to see his body one last time.

Meanwhile, the family has still received no detailed information about how Sagar joined the Russian army, through which Bangladeshi broker he went to the war, or whether there is any scope to bring his body back home.

Chandina Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Ashraful Haque said that after learning of the matter from the media, he is looking into it. If he receives instructions from the ministry, he will make enquiries into everything and provide all possible administrative cooperation, he said.

The process of bringing Sagar's body home now depends on steps by the administration and the ministry. Until then, the family has no path but to wait, clutching their son's photograph.