An Indian student has reportedly been shot at and injured in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Friday. Singh is in Poland currently to facilitate the evacuation of Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine.
“Today, we heard reports that a student leaving Kyiv was shot at. He was taken back to Kyiv. This will happen in fighting,” the minister told media persons. Recently on March 1, a young Indian medical student, Naveen SG of Karnataka, was killed in shelling in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv when he ventured out to buy food for himself and fellow students.
Singh said the Centre is making efforts to ensure that the maximum number of students can come out of Ukraine with as little loss as possible. India has been airlifting its citizens through special flights from Ukraine’s western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday that India is primarily focusing on evacuating its nationals from the conflict zones of Kharkiv and Sumy in eastern Ukraine. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that around 300 Indians are stuck in Kharkiv and 700 are in Sumy.
At a media briefing, he said a local ceasefire would help in the evacuation of the Indians and that New Delhi is urging both the Russian and Ukrainian sides to find ways for their safe passage from the conflict zones. “Our primary focus is to get Indian students out of conflict zones in eastern Ukraine,” he said.
Bagchi said around 20,000 Indians have left Ukraine’s borders since India issued its first travel advisories in mid-February. He said 15 flights landed in India as part of the evacuation mission during the last 24 hours, bringing back more than 3,000 nationals.
The spokesperson said 16 flights are scheduled for the next 24 hours. Over 10,300 Indians brought back in 48 flights under ‘Operation Ganga’ so far, he added. (Courtesy Hindu)
