The government on Thursday said that the Indian embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with its stranded citizens, adding that it has not received any reports of students being held hostage in the war-hit country. The government’s remarks came in response to media queries after the claims of the Russian embassy in India on Wednesday that Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield. Refuting the reports of Indian students being held hostage, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that many students left Kharkiv with the cooperation of Ukrainian authorities. “We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested for the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for evacuating students from
Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country,” he added.
Bagchi further said that the MEA has been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, and expressed gratitude towards Ukrainian authorities for their help in the evacuation of Indians. “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. We thank Ukraine’s western neighbours for receiving Indian nationals and accommodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home,” he stated.
Notably, the Russian embassy in India on Wednesday tweeted, “According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities.” This claim was repeated by President Vladimir Putin himself in a speech on Thursday night, saying that the Ukrainians were holding 3,000 Indians hostage.
However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a tweet, said that the country has established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine as the tensions between Moscow and Kyiv rages on.
The MEA also said on Thursday that the Indian embassy in Kyiv was not shut but a significant part of the embassy had moved to Lviv. “Embassy is not shut in Kyiv. A team of the Embassy in Kyiv was asked to move to Lviv. We have an office now functioning in Lviv. We were trying to see if the other part of the team of the Embassy in Kyiv can move to the Eastern side of the country but it is a dynamic process so I do not know exactly where they are. The embassy is fully functional,” Bagchi said, adding that a total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the first travel advisory was issued by the Indian embassy in Kyiv. As many as 18 flights are scheduled for the next 24 hours including three IAF C-17 and other commercials flights like Air India, Indigo, Spice jet, Go first and Go Air, Bagchi said.
Bagchi also said that the Government of India is in constant touch with the Ukrainian authorities to bring back the mortal remains of an Indian national who died in Kharkiv shelling. The MEA also issued an advisory for Indian nationals in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, stating that a potentially dangerous situation can be expected. Indian Embassy, in a tweet, urged that all Indian nationals who are in Kharkiv excluding Pesochin should urgently fill up their details in the form which the embassy shared on its Twitter handle. “All Indian Nationals who are in KHARKIV excluding PISOCHYN, please fill up details contained in the form on an urgent basis,” the Indian Embassy in Ukraine said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) said on Thursday that over 6,200 Indians have returned from Ukraine through special civilian flights and more than 7,400 Indians are expected to arrive in the next two days. “Ministry of External Affairs, in close coordination with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is making all efforts to bring the Indian students back to India.”