Russia to investigate death of Indian student in Kharkiv: Envoy

Russian Ambassador-delegate Denis Alipov said that his country will investigate the death of the 21-year-old Indian medical student in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, a fourth-year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University, was killed in intense shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday (March 1).

Following the incident, India asked the envoys of both Russia and Ukraine to ensure “urgent safe passage” to Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and other conflict zones.

“I want to express our sympathy to the family of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar and to the entire Indian nation over the tragedy,” Alipov said at a media briefing.

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“Russia will do everything it possibly can to ensure the safety of Indian citizens in the areas of intense conflict…and a proper investigation of this unfortunate incident,” Alipov said.

Naveen hailed from Chalageri in the Haveri district of Karnataka.

On Tuesday night, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Naveen’s body had been identified and taken to a morgue in the university and that Indian authorities are in touch with the local administration in Kharkiv to bring back the mortal remains.

“According to Naveen’s friends, he had gone out to buy some groceries and was on a line at a shop when he was hit,” Shringla said, adding that the circumstances were “not absolutely clear.”

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India is carrying out a massive evacuation mission named Mission Ganga, to bring back the Indians stranded in Ukraine.

(With inputs from Agencies)