Indian student was in queue at a supermarket when tragedy struck

An Indian student is confirmed to have died as Russian missiles razed an administrative building in Ukraine’s second most populated city, Kharkiv, on Tuesday (March 1).

As per reports, Kharkiv’s regional administration building was hit by a Russian missile earlier in the day. Among those who are feared to have been killed in the explosion is a 21-year-old Indian medical student – Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, who hails from Chalageri in Karnataka. Naveen was a fourth year MBBS student in Kharkiv National Medical University.

“With profound sorrow, we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family,” Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Union Ministry of Affairs, tweeted.

Bagchi said that the foreign secretary is calling in ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine to reiterate the demand for urgent and safe passage for Indian nationals who are still stuck in Kharkiv and other cities of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the father of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar. Modi offered his heartfelt condolences to the family following the tragedy.

“The explosion happened after the curfew was lifted in a building located just two kilometers from the University. Curfew was imposed in the city only from 4 pm to 8 am. As the students are running out of food and water, Naveen had gone to purchase food at a supermarket which was close to the administrative building. The explosion happened when he was standing in queue to enter the supermarket,” Gautham, another student from University, told The Federal.

Gautham, Naveen and 200 more students were confined to the basement of the university hostel for the six days ever since the war begun. “The news that one of our fellow students was killed in the shelling has shattered us and we are all paranoid. We are scared that we will die,” he said.

Gautham and some of his friends were all set to board a taxi when the explosion happened. “We were planning to travel to the railway station which is 20 kilometers away to board a train to Lviv which is close to the western border where evacuation is happening. Even though we are not sure whether we will get seats in trains, we wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. Now, following the explosion, we have no option but to go back to the basement,” Gautham said.

The Indian embassy had started evacuating students even from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, but not from Kharkiv where shelling is severe, he pointed out.

Another Indian medical student, Alex, told The Federal over the phone that he and nine of his friends had just returned to their private apartment, located 800 meters away from the administrative office that was bombed. They were putting up in the basement of a metro station after they ran out of water and food. Alex said, “Just a few minutes after we came to our building, an explosion happened. We immediately went to the basement. As our building is very old, I don’t think we would have survived had we been in the basement at the time the building was bombed. It is not safe for us to stay here any longer.”

“Until morning, we were very hopeful and were strong. But, now, after one of our students had died, we are losing hope and are scared to death. We cannot stay here any longer and want to go home,” Alex said.

Requesting the Indian embassy to take immediate steps to evacuate them from the city, Alex said, “We hardly have food for another couple of days at our apartment. We don’t know whether it will be a good idea to visit even supermarkets as the shelling has taken place after the curfew was lifted.”

Alex said that travel agents are offering to take them to the western borders of Ukraine for a charge of $100 per person. But not many of them can afford it right now because they are short of money and most ATMs in the nearby locality are not functioning.

“We have been constantly reaching out to the Indian embassy seeking help to travel out of the city but we have not received any help from them. We request the Indian government to take immediate steps to rescue us from the crisis situation,” he said while speaking to The Federal and started running towards the basement as the siren went off. His number is not reachable since.