Moscow says Ukraine took Indians hostage, stopped them from leaving Kharkiv via Russia; Kyiv wants truce first

Even as New Delhi and Moscow are working together to evacuate citizens of India stranded in the war zone of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine through Russia, the move has apparently hit a hitch, with the two warring sides blaming each other.

India got hundreds of its citizens leave Kharkiv and move to three nearby towns on short notice on Wednesday, apparently for evacuating them through the territory of Russia.

Moscow, however, accused the Ukrainian Army of forcibly stopping some Indians from leaving Kharkiv and taking them hostage to be used as human shields, obviously in resisting the advancing Russian Army.

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 said it was ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should Russia commit to a ceasefire.

Also read: Russia to investigate death of Indian student in Kharkiv: Envoy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir 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, according to a statement issued by the Kremlin.

Putin, however, told Modi that some Indian students had actually been taken hostage by the Ukrainian Army to use them as human shields. He also told the Prime Minister that the Ukrainian Army would in every possible way stop the Indians from leaving for Russian territory.

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Government alleged in Moscow that the Ukrainian Army and local authorities had forcibly kept a large group of students from India in Kharkiv, although they had wanted to leave and cross the Ukraine-Russia border to go to Belgorod in Russia.

Also read: Indian students queue up at Kharkiv railway station but doors of trains remain shut

“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.”

Denis Alipov, Moscow’s newly-appointed envoy to New Delhi, told journalists that efforts were on to create a “humanitarian corridor” for the safe exit of the citizens of India from Kharkiv and other places in eastern Ukraine through the territory of Russia.

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 due to shelling by the Russian Armed Forces 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 – mostly students – to immediately leave Kharkiv and, if vehicles are not available, 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.

It stated that all Indians must leave Kharkiv “immediately, repeat immediately” in the light of the “deteriorating situation” and “for their own safety and security”.

The 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.

Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told journalists in New Delhi that India had issued the advisory and asked its citizens stranded in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine to leave immediately 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 to fully capture Kharkiv late Wednesday or early Thursday.

New Delhi has been asking Moscow to ensure urgent safe passage for Indians stranded in eastern Ukraine. After the death of Naveen in Kharkiv on Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla once again called in Russia’s ambassador-designate to India, Denis Alipov, to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi and reiterated the demand. He also called in Kyiv’s envoy to New Delhi, Igor Polikha, and asked him to ensure the safe exit of the citizens of India from eastern Ukraine.

Kharkiv has been witnessing intense fighting between the Russian Army advancing from the east and the Ukrainian Army trying to hold on to the second largest city of the East European nation. The paratroopers of the Russian Armed Forces purportedly landed in and around Kharkiv early on Wednesday. Besides, Russia is also sending additional troops towards eastern Ukraine, apparently preparing for a major offensive to take the city.

India has a large number of citizens – mostly medical students – stranded in eastern Ukraine.

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, due to intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

It was after the death of Naveen in Kharkiv on Tuesday that the Government of India decided to prioritise the evacuation of citizens from the city.

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