NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — An Indian student was killed on Tuesday in shelling in Ukraine, New Delhi said as it urged Moscow and Kyiv to secure safe passage for its around 12,000 nationals stuck in the country.
“With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Twitter.
He added that the foreign secretary was “calling in the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors to reiterate our demand for urgent safe passage for Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones.”
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, has been a target for Russian forces since President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of the Eastern European country last Thursday.
On Tuesday the central square of the city near the Russian border was shelled by advancing forces who hit the building of the local administration, regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said.
Before Russia’s invasion there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine. Around 8,000 have since managed to leave the country, of whom some 1,400 have been flown back to India, according to officials.
According to Indian media, some students are facing difficulties crossing into neighbouring countries, with some Ukrainian border guards reportedly refusing to let them pass and demanding money.
India, which has long walked a tightrope in its relations with Moscow and the West and which gets most of its arms from Russia, last week abstained in the UN Security Council resolution deploring Russia’s “aggression”.
© Agence France-Presse
