MOSCOW, Russia: As Russia grapples with a deepening labour shortage worsened by its war in Ukraine, employers are increasingly recruiting workers from India to fill gaps in factories, farms and service industries.

One recent evening at a busy Moscow airport, a group of Indian men carrying sports bags queued at passport control after travelling more than 2,700 miles via Uzbekistan in search of work.

"I have a contract for one year. In the rubbish disposal business. The money is good," said Ajit, one of the men, speaking in English.

Russian authorities say the country faces an immediate shortage of at least 2.3 million workers. The strain of the war in Ukraine has aggravated the deficit, while traditional sources of migrant labour from ex-Soviet Central Asia have not supplied enough workers to plug the gap.

In 2021, the year before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, around 5,000 work permits were approved for Indian nationals. Last year, almost 72,000 permits were granted to Indians — nearly a third of the total annual quota for migrant workers requiring visas.

"Currently, expatriate employees from India are the most popular," said Alexei Filipenkov, director of a company that recruits Indian workers.

Although official figures show Central Asians still made up the majority of the 2.3 million legal foreign workers not requiring visas last year, a weaker rouble, tougher migration laws, and sharper anti-immigrant rhetoric have reduced their numbers. In response, Moscow has expanded visa quotas for workers from other countries.

India's growing role reflects close defence and economic ties between Moscow and New Delhi. India has been purchasing discounted Russian oil that Moscow, under Western sanctions, has struggled to sell elsewhere.

In December, President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a deal to ease employment for Indians in Russia. Denis Manturov, Russia's first deputy prime minister, said at the time that Russia could accept an "unlimited number" of Indian workers. He estimated that at least 800,000 workers were needed in manufacturing and another 1.5 million in services and construction.

At Brera Intex, a Moscow-based textile company, around 10 South Asian workers, including Indians, now produce curtains and bed linen.

"I was told to come (over) to this side, that the work and money are good," said Gaurav, 23, who has worked in Russia for three months. "Russian life is very good."

Married with two children, he said he speaks to his family in India daily and misses them.

Owner Olga Lugovskaya said the workers had learned quickly. "Some of the guys who came in didn't even know how to switch on a sewing machine," she said. "(But) after two or three months, you could already trust them to sew a proper finished item."

Outside Moscow, the Sergiyevsky farm employs Indian workers to process and pack vegetables, paying about 50,000 roubles (US$660) per month, wages the farm says local workers reject.

"In India, there is little money, but here there is a lot of money. The work is here," said Sahil, 23, from Punjab.

U.S. pressure on India to curb purchases of Russian oil, linked by President Donald Trump to a recent U.S.-India trade deal, could complicate matters. For now, however, Moscow has played down any suggestion of tensions.