Ukraine-Russia War: The Russian Embassy in India on Wednesday accused the Ukrainian military of holding Indian students hostage in Kharkiv. Russia said that Ukrainian forces are using Indians as shields. Russia also said that its armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures to evacuate the Indians.
However, rejecting Russia’s claims, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it has not received any report of Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, while responding to media queries, said that our embassy in Ukraine is in constant touch with the Indians living there.
He said that most of the students have left Kharkiv yesterday with the support of the Ukrainian government. We have not received any report of anyone being held hostage. We have requested the Government of Ukraine to run special trains to take our students from Kharkiv and surrounding areas to the western part.
Also read- Assembly Elections 2022 Live Updates: 8.69% voting in 57 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh till 9 am, CM Yogi voted
Bagchi said that we are working in coordination and cooperation with different countries of the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. A large number of Indian people have been evacuated in the last few days.
The spokesman further said that we appreciate the help provided by the Ukrainian government. We thank Ukraine’s western neighbors for providing shelter to Indian students evacuated from Ukraine till they boarded the plane to return home.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday claimed that Ukrainian officials were forcibly stopping Indians in Kharkiv, though they wanted to leave Ukraine and move to the nearby Russian city of Belgorod. Russia said Indians were being held hostage and offered to leave Ukraine via Ukrainian territory (Ukrainian-Polish border).
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the safe evacuation of Indians from Ukraine, amid the ongoing campaign to rescue Indians stranded in Ukraine, badly hit by Russia’s military operation.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that the two leaders reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv, where a large number of Indian students are stranded. They discussed the safe evacuation of Indian citizens from the war-torn area.
,