‘Held hostages’: Russia accuses Ukraine of forcibly keeping Indians in Kharkiv

The Russian defence ministry said the Indians in Kharkiv were being held as hostages by Ukraine and were told by authorities to move through territory “where active hostilities are taking place” so that they couldn’t leave.

Russia on Wednesday accused Ukrainian authorities of keeping Indian students in Kharkiv as hostages and said its armed forces were ready to take all necessary measures to safely evacuate them. The accusation was promptly rebutted by Ukraine which asked countries “whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression” to demand opening a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.

The central square of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, was shelled by advancing Russian forces who hit the building of the local administration. Kharkiv, a largely Russian-speaking city near the Russian border, has a population of around 1.4 million. (AFP)

The Russian defence ministry told a briefing that Ukrainian authorities were “forcibly” keeping the Indians in Kharkiv though they wanted to leave Ukraine and go to the nearby Russian city of Belgorod.

The Russian ministry contended the Indians “are being held as hostages and offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via [the] Ukrainian-Polish border”. They were being asked to move through territory “where active hostilities are taking place”, it said.

“Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens [and] send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do,” the ministry said.

The statement from the Russian side came hours after India, on the basis of inputs from the Russian government, urged all its nationals in the besieged city of Kharkiv to leave for safer areas nearby within five hours amid scenes of chaos following intense bombardment and a Russian airborne assault on Ukraine’s second largest city.

In a statement that followed the Russian accusation, Ukraine's foreign ministry asked the Russian Federation to immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy “so that we can arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities”.

“There are students from India, Pakistan, China and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure,” the Ukranian side said, emphasising that arranging evacuation through cities that are targets of Russian bombing and missile strikes “is extremely dangerous”.

“We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities,” Ukraine's foreign ministry statement said.

Indian nationals in Kharkiv, where medical student Naveen Shekharappa Gyandagoudar was killed in a Russian attack on Tuesday, were asked to move out of the city immediately for their safety in “light of the deteriorating situation”.

The Indians were told to move, if necessary on foot, to the safer areas of Pisochyn, Babai and Bezlyudivka, all located between 11 and 16 km from Kharkiv. “Proceed immediately. Under all circumstances Indians must reach these settlements by 1800 hrs (Ukrainian time) today,” the advisory said, giving the Indians a window of less than five hours to reach the designated places.

The external affairs ministry said the advisory was based on inputs from the Russian side.

“The advisory...on the need for our nationals to leave Kharkiv immediately is on the basis of information received from Russia. We would urge all our nationals to leave Kharkiv immediately to the safe zones or further westwards, using any means available, including on foot, and keeping safety in mind,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

It is learnt that the Russian side had informed the Indian side about the need to get all Indians out of Kharkiv within hours ahead of a planned assault on the city. Since Sunday, India has urged both Ukraine and Russia to ensure safe passage for the thousands of Indians in Kharkiv, Sumy and other nearby cities.

Bagchi said the Indian side hadn’t “chosen these locations [or] the time” mentioned in the advisory, which was based completely on Russian inputs. “I can’t say anything beyond this,” he added.

But a large number of students were unable to leave. Bagchi acknowledged that Indians were facing “some problems” in getting out of conflict zones. “People are reporting difficulties at some places, including violence continuing,” he said.

Indians students on the ground said they were finding it difficult to comply with the advisory. Clifford Ben Samuel, 21, a fourth-year aviation student from Chennai studying in Kharkiv, said he had waited since early Wednesday morning at the train station. While three trains had gone by, Indians were not allowed into them.

“They are not letting us get on. They are only allowing Ukrainian citizens to get on. We don’t know what to do,” he said. “There are no taxis or buses and we just have these trains to take us to the western border. The government says we should get out but they are not telling us how. No one is taking our calls at the embassy either.”

Samuel, a friend of Gyandagoudar, was traumatised by his friend’s death and the incessant missile strikes. He said he was feeling helpless. “It’s a desperate situation here and more than 200 of us are just waiting to get on a train,” he said.