No Hostage Situation With Indian Students In Ukraine's Kharkiv, Govt Rejects Russia's Claim

There are no reports of Indian students being held hostage by the Ukrainian forces in the city of Kharkiv, the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

"Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Reuters

"We have not received any report of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country," he said.

What Russia had claimed

The ministry's clarification came after Russia claimed that some Indian students were "actually taken hostage" by Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a "human shield" and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russian territory.

Reuters

Following the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian readout said the Russian side is trying to organise an "urgent evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkov (Kharkiv) through the humanitarian corridor along the shortest route to Russia."

"At the same time, according to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russian territory," it claimed.

Reuters

"The leaders reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas," the Indian statement of the conversation said.

What Ukraine said

The Ukrainian foreign ministry on the other hand had claimed that the students were being held hostage by the Russian troops and said that it "urgently called on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities."

Reuters

There were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine, mostly students before the conflict started.

Around 4,000 to 5,000 Indians have been brought home so far from Ukraine under Operation Ganga and more flights from neighbouring countries are also scheduled to bring back more citizens to safety.

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