New Delhi: The ministry of external affairs on Thursday said it has not received any reports of a hostage situation regarding any student in Ukraine after the Russian Embassy in India claimed that Indian students are being held as hostages in Ukraine.
The official spokesperson of the ministry, Arindam Bagchi said the Indian embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with the Indian nationals in Ukraine. “We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday. We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country,” the MEA statement said.
Our response to media queries regarding reports of Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine ⬇️https://t.co/RaOFcV849D pic.twitter.com/fOlz5XsQsc
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) March 3, 2022
“We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible. We thank Ukraine’s western neighbours in receiving Indian nationals and for accommodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home,” the ministry said clarifying on Russia’s claims.
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in India said that Ukrainian security forces in Kharkov are using Indian students as human shields and allowing them passage only through the Ukrainian-Polish border, where hostilities are taking place.
In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place. https://t.co/ogkgjPZtpQ
— Russia in India 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbIndia) March 2, 2022
However, Ukraine denied the allegations and blamed Russia for taking students from India, Pakistan, China and other countries as hostages. It also urged Moscow to allow Humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.