Death of Karnataka student prods Modi govt to prioritise evacuation of Indians from eastern Ukraine

After a medical student from Karnataka was killed in shelling by the Russian Army in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, the envoys of Moscow and Kyiv to New Delhi were summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs and asked to urgently ensure safe passage for all Indians from the war-torn country.

Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, originally a resident of Haveri in Karnataka, was killed in Kharkiv early on Tuesday. The 21-year-old was a fourth-year student of the Kharkiv National Medical University in Kharkiv. He went out to buy food and was in a queue in front of a grocery store, when he was killed, apparently as a result of shelling by Russian Armed Forces targeting an administrative building in the city.

A local woman picked up his phone and conveyed to his friends that he had been killed and his body had been taken to the morgue of the Kharkiv National Medical University.

“Sudden blast in city centre Kharkiv with casualties. We lost an Indian student who was nearby & (and) was in queue to buy food stuffs,” Pooja Praharaj, a student coordinator, tweeted from Kharkiv. She also posted a video of an explosion in the city.

Also Read | Haveri village plunges into grief, mourns son Naveen's death

Kharkiv has been witnessing intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces over the past few days.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla told journalists in New Delhi late in the evening that the Government of India was in touch with local authorities and would try to bring back his mortal remains.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had yet another meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other senior officials to review the progress of ‘Operation Ganga’, which was launched to evacuate the citizens of India from war-torn Ukraine. He expressed anguish over the death of Naveen and also spoke to the deceased student’s father Shekarappa Gyanagouda at Chalageri in Karnataka.

Though the Modi Government has been evacuating citizens of India from western Ukraine through neighbouring Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovak Republic, it could not yet help nearly 4000 – mostly students – stranded in Kharkiv, Sumy and other eastern cities of the country, due to intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Read | India calls Russia, Ukraine envoys after student killed

“It’s been 6 (six) days we are begging our Indian govt (Government) @PMOIndia @DrSJaishankar to help us, they didn’t even make a single move. Today one died, tomorrow 100 and day after 1000. Are you waiting to take our 4000 bodies by your evacuation plan?” Praharaj, herself a medical graduate, posted on Twitter, drawing the attention of the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister to the plight of the Indians, spending days and nights in bunkers and other shelters.

The Foreign Secretary, however, told journalists that the government would now prioritise evacuation of Indians from Kharkiv, Sumy and other places in eastern Ukraine.

Shringla called in Russia’s newly-appointed ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, and the deputy ambassador, Roman Babushkin, to his office hours after Naveen was killed in Kharkiv. He reiterated New Delhi’s appeal to Russia to ensure the safe passage of Indians from eastern Ukraine.

The Embassy of India in Moscow already stationed a team of officials at Belgorod, a town close to Russia’s border with Ukraine. It was tasked to make arrangements for the evacuation of citizens of India from Kharkiv and other places in war-torn eastern Ukraine through Russia. The evacuation route however could not be opened so far due to intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in and around Kharkiv.

The Foreign Secretary also called in Kyiv’s envoy to New Delhi, Igor Polikha, to request assistance from the Ukrainian Government in the evacuation of citizens of India.

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