Surat: Uncertainty over work pushed diamond artisan Ramnik Sakhwala (39) to Russia in search of better employment opportunities. But his job hunt has now turned into a desperate search by his family, which has been without any contact with him for the past three months.Sakhwala went to Russia with a friend in June 2025, hoping to explore employment opportunities. He took up odd jobs to earn money to meet his living expenses and airfare. “He went there on a visitor visa for three months and started working to manage his daily expenses. He extended his stay, initially planning to return in April as he was not comfortable there, but later decided to stay a little longer,” said his wife, Shital alias Rina. She has now taken up stitching work to support herself and their 16-year-old son, Hemil.“We last spoke to him on June 24, when he informed us that he was going to the border to work with the armed forces. He told us his phone would not work for at least 15 days and that he would call once he had network connectivity. But that call never came,” Rina said.Sakhwala had also informed his family that he had been issued a Russian passport as he was joining the armed forces. He had sent images of the passport to his family.Hemil, along with his uncle Mahesh and grandfather Kalu, has been trying to trace his father through emails and calls to authorities in New Delhi and Moscow. However, their efforts have yielded no clarity on his whereabouts or status.Originally from Pratapgadh village in Amreli district, the family has been settled in Surat, the Diamond City, for the past 35 years. Sakhwala’s father, Kalu, a farmer, said he was initially not informed that his son was missing.“I was not informed initially by my family members that Ramnik was missing. We have not shared any details with my wife, Mukta, as she already has health complications and this information could cause her a lot of pain,” he said.The family subsequently wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office seeking help to locate Ramnik and also contacted the Russian embassy in India. “We were told by the Russian embassy that they do not have exact information about Ramnik’s status. But we fear that he may have died in the war, as we have not been able to contact him,” Mahesh said.
