Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi has dismissed Moscow’s allegation that the Ukrainian Army had forcibly stopped some Indians from leaving Kharkiv in the East European nation and took them hostage to be used as human shields to resist the advancing Russian Army.
The Embassy of India in Kyiv is in continuous touch with Indians in Ukraine, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said early on Thursday. New Delhi noted that many Indian students had left Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday with the cooperation of the local authorities.
“We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student,” he said, contradicting the allegations made not only by a spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Government but also by the office of President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
New Delhi has requested support from the Ukrainian Government in arranging special trains for taking students out of Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country, the MEA spokesperson said.
“We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova,” said Bagchi.
“A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible,” he added, dismissing Moscow’s allegation against Kyiv.
India got hundreds of its citizens to leave Kharkiv and move to three nearby towns on short notice on Wednesday, apparently for evacuating them through the territory of Russia.
Moscow, however, alleged that the Ukrainian Army had taken some Indian students hostage and forced them to remain in Kharkiv to be used as human shields in a press release issued after Putin had a phone call with Modi.
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Government also alleged that the Ukrainian Army and local authorities forcibly kept a large group of Indian students in Kharkiv, although they had wanted to leave and cross the Ukraine-Russia border to go to Belgorod in Russia. “In fact, they (Indians) are being held as hostages (by the Ukrainians) and offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border (though areas of active hostilities),” a spokesperson of the Russian Government said. “Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens, and send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes,” they added.
Kyiv on the other hand stated that the citizens of India, Pakistan and China could not leave Kharkiv and Sumy due to indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on the residential areas and civilian infrastructure in eastern Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian Government also said that it was ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy if Russia committed to a ceasefire.
Modi spoke to Putin and reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv. They discussed the safe evacuation of the citizens of India from the conflict zones in Ukraine, according to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi. Putin told Modi that all necessary instructions had been given and the Russian Army had been doing everything possible to ensure the safe removal of Indian citizens from the war zone and their return to their homeland.
Hundreds of Indians, mostly students, have been stranded in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine ever since the country came under attack from Russia early on February 24. A 21-year-old medical student, Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, was killed in front of the grocery store during Russian shelling on Tuesday.
The Embassy of India in Kyiv issued an “urgent advisory” at around 1:30 pm (Ukraine Time) on Wednesday, asking the stranded Indians to immediately leave Kharkiv and, in case of unavailability of vehicles, start walking towards Pesochyn, Babai and Bezlyudivka, three settlements located nearly 11-16 kilometres away. “Proceed immediately. Under all circumstances, Indians must reach these settlements by 6 pm (Ukraine Time) today,” the embassy asked students in the advisory.
A majority of Indians stranded in the city did leave after the advisory was issued and they either reached or were on their way to the designated destinations, according to the latest report received in New Delhi.
Bagchi, the spokesperson of the MEA, told journalists in New Delhi on Wednesday that India had issued the advisory on the basis of inputs received from Russia. He, however, declined to elaborate on the nature of the inputs India received from Russia.
A source in New Delhi, however, told DH that the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Government had alerted the Embassy of India in Moscow about the possibility of a major military operation being launched soon to fully wrest control of Kharkiv from Ukraine.
After the death of Naveen, the Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla once again called in Russia’s ambassador-designate to India, Denis Alipov, and demanded safe evacuation of Indians. He also called in Kyiv’s envoy to New Delhi, Igor Polikha, and reiterated the demand.
Kharkiv has been witnessing intense fighting as the Ukrainian Army tries to hold on to its second largest city. The paratroopers of the Russian Armed Forces purportedly landed in and around Kharkiv early on Wednesday. Russia is also sending additional troops towards eastern Ukraine, apparently preparing for a major offensive to take the city.
Though the Modi Government in New Delhi over the past few days evacuated a large number of Indians from western Ukraine through neighbouring Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovak Republic, it could not help the ones stranded in Kharkiv, Sumy and other places in the war-torn eastern region of the country.
It was after the death of Naveen in Kharkiv on Tuesday that the Government of India decided to prioritise evacuation of citizens from the city.
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