Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya on Wednesday expressed regret over the death of an Indian student during shelling by Russian forces in Kharkiv.
“Ukraine deeply regrets that a student from India has been a victim of the shelling by Russian forces in Kharkiv. We offer our deepest sympathies to India and the relatives of the victim,” Kyslytsya said.
He said while one Indian national was killed in the attack, a Chinese citizen was wounded.
During his speech at the UN General Assembly, Belarus Ambassador to the UN Valentin Rybakov claimed that Polish border guards beat up around 100 Indian students and turned them back into Ukraine following which they were placed in a refugee camp in Romania. “On the 26th of February, Polish border guards beat up and turned back into Ukraine a group of around 100 Indian students who then were kindly placed in a refugee camp in Romania,’ Rybakov said.
The statements come amid a massive evacuation operation by the Indian government to fly back its stranded residents from the conflict-ridden country. Indian students stranded in several parts of Ukraine through videos have been giving accounts of their harrowing time in the war zone, with some of them even blaming the Indian embassy and the government for turning a deaf ear to their rescue appeals.
On Wednesday, a second student, 22-year-old Chandan Jindal from Punjab, died after suffering a stroke in Ukraine. He was a student at Vinnytsia National Pyrogov, Memorial Medical University. On March 1, Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagowdar, a resident of Karnataka, had died during an intense spell of shelling by Russian forces in Kharkiv. The 21-year-old was a fourth year student of Kharkiv National Medical University, and had gone out to get groceries.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday saud approximately 8,000 Indians, mainly students, are stranded in Ukraine. India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine’s western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut down since February 24. The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since February 24 morning when the Russian military attacked the country.
(With inputs from agencies)