Putin: Over 3,000 Indian students being held hostage in Kharkiv

delay their leave, or trying to evacuate them via Poland, making them travel across the whole area of hostilities, that is risking their lives. “Our military opened safe passage, to allow them to leave safely, they are giving them transport so that civilians, foreign citizens get an opportunity to move to safer zones. “But nationalists are not allowing this to happen,” he said. Putin during his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last night had conveyed that a group of Indian students has been “effectively taken hostage by Ukrainian security services” in Kharkiv who are using them as human shields and preventing them from leaving via Russia. “Responsibility in this case fully rests with the Kyiv authorities”, Putin told PM Modi, according to a Kremlin readout of the talks. On Thursday, the MEA spokesperson said in a statement that they have not received any reports of Indians being held hostage by the Ukrainians. The spokesperson said “Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with 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 neighboring areas to the western part of the country. “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 neighbors in receiving Indian nationals and for accommodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home,” the statement said.