Putin, Modi discuss plight of Indian students trapped in Ukraine | Russia-Ukraine war News

Russian president orders soldiers ‘to ensure the safe exit of Indian nationals from the armed conflict zone’, says Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the urgent evacuation of Indian students trapped in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, said the Kremlin.

During their video call on Wednesday, Putin said he had ordered Russian soldiers “to ensure the safe exit of Indian nationals from the armed conflict zone and their return to their homeland,” according to a Kremlin statement.

Russia was trying to organise the emergency evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkiv via a humanitarian corridor, it added.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian authorities said Russian paratroopers had landed in the eastern city, and that there was fighting in the streets.

India denies students taken hostage

Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry on Wednesday said the Ukrainian authorities were holding a group of Indian students by force.

“They have practically been taken hostage,” ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said during a televised briefing.

But Indian media reports on Thursday said New Delhi has denied reports of its students being held as hostages in Ukraine. India’s foreign ministry said it was in constant touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine, reports added.

“We have not received 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,” India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Russian defence ministry spokesperson Konashenkov said Ukraine was offering to evacuate the Indian students via the western border with Poland, which, he said, would mean they would be passing through combat zones.

“The Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of Indian nationals” so they can be flown home from Russia, he added.

New Delhi announced on Tuesday that an Indian student had been killed during shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Russian artillery bombardment of the city killed 21 people there on Tuesday, said the region’s governor.

India is trying to arrange the safe evacuation of some 12,000 of its citizens.

Before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, there were 20,000 Indians in Ukraine.

Since then, however, about 8,000 have managed to leave the country, and about 1,400 of them have already been repatriated, said Indian authorities.

India abstains from UNGA vote

Also on Wednesday, India abstained from voting at a landmark United Nations General Assembly which overwhelmingly adopted a resolution asking Russia to “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine.

After more than two days of extraordinary debate, which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 UN member states voted for the non-binding resolution.

India and China were among the 35 countries which abstained, while just five – Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and of course Russia – voted against the resolution.