Russia wants to attract tens of thousands of labor migrants from India this year. In this way, Moscow is trying to overcome the labor shortage. Why exactly Indians and what kind of personnel are being recruited for work?
In 2026, tens of thousands of Indian citizens will come to work in Russia, said the presidential representative in the field of sustainable development Boris Titov. Moreover, according to official data, between 70,000 and 80,000 Indians were already working in Russia by the end of 2025.
A labor mobility agreement signed between India and Russia in December 2025 should become a new impetus. It envisages the arrival of nearly 72,000 Indian citizens in Russia in 2026.
"India needs to export unemployment"
According to information from DW, there has been an increase in the number of Indians arriving in Russia: from 32,000 in the first quarter of last year, to 36,000 in the second, and in the third – already 63,000.
The recruitment of Indian workers is carried out through various agencies, and the salaries of the low-skilled among them range between 475 and 950 euros per month - much more than they could earn in their homeland. Therefore, conditions in Russia seem attractive to Indians. In St. Petersburg, for example, about 3,000 Indian citizens have come to look for work, attracted by salaries of about a thousand euros, free housing, and Russian language courses.
As an Indian diplomat, who requested anonymity, told DW, this agreement is also attractive to India: "Russia needs workers, and India needs to export unemployment".
Instead of work - at the front
According to the Indian diplomat, the agreement is necessary to legalize the migration of Indians to Russia, which until recently has been "informal and chaotic". This is what made them vulnerable to fraudulent schemes, in which they were fraudulently forced to sign contracts with the army and go to the front in Ukraine.
According to official data from India, since the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine, 126 Indians have signed contracts with the Russian army, and at least 12 have died. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of demobilization of Indians who had already signed contracts with the Russian army with Vladimir Putin in 2024, as well as preventing new recruitments. But time will tell how this will be implemented in practice.
Will Indians fit into the Russian economy?
Economist Igor Lipsits points out that one of the key problems that most Indians in Russia will face is the language barrier: “Indians do not know Russian, and the majority of Russian citizens do not speak English. In this situation, Indian workers can only be used for the most primitive work - to bring, carry, clean, clean the snow.“
In addition, the possibilities for integration are limited by cultural differences. “I think that India is being relied on to reduce the influx of Muslims from the Central Asian republics. "But people from other cultures bring their own risks and conflicts with them anyway," notes economist Andrei Yakovlev.
If Indian cleaners and janitors have appeared on the streets of St. Petersburg, this is more a demonstration of intentions than a solution to the problems. "The main shortage is of competent people," Yakovlev emphasizes. Lipsitz agrees and says: "This is a kind of test drive - an attempt to understand whether these people will fit into the Russian economy."
Why Russia is betting on India
Lipsitz points out to DW that currently citizens from Central Asia, who were intensively sought after by Russia until recently, are also sought after in other labor markets - in Great Britain and Southern Europe. “As a result, migrants demand higher wages, and for the Russian employer this becomes less profitable.“
The choice of India as an alternative is not accidental. Russia will probably pay the Indians in rupees taken from the sale of oil, suggests Russia expert Rajan Kumar from Delhi. The total trade between India and Russia is about 70 billion dollars, but Russia buys goods from India for only five billion - that is, Russia has a surplus of rupees that cannot be spent meaningfully inside the country, the expert explains.
From a shortage of personnel in Russia - to mass layoffs?
Official data show that in 2024 Russia was short of 2.2 million workers - in industry, construction, logistics, medicine, trade and IT. Andrei Yakovlev believes that the personnel shortage was caused not only by war, mobilization and emigration. “In my opinion, attracting Indian workers is the Kremlin's reaction to deep demographic trends. War, mobilization and emigration played a role, but they only intensified the longer-term problem - the constant decline in the population.“
The expert adds that all estimates so far have been made for an economy that was in a state of overheating. “Now the situation is changing - a recession is beginning, businesses are switching to a short-time workweek, and mass layoffs are quite possible this year.“
Indian experts are also wary of the Russian initiative. Lekha Chakraborty, a professor of public finance and policy at the University of New Delhi, warns that labor demand in Russia has been distorted by the war and is volatile. “Post-conflict normalization or escalation can quickly reduce wages, lead to layoffs, and put migrants in a difficult position because of repatriation issues or limited guarantees,“ she says.“