Countering the allegation made by the Ministry of Defence of Russia claiming that Ukrainian forces are keeping a large group of Indian students as "hostages" in Kharkiv, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday, 3 March, "We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student."
The MEA added, "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."
The Russian Embassy in India's official Twitter handle had posted a statement from the Russian Defence Ministry on Thursday, saying, "According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkiv who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod (sic)."
"In fact, they are being held as hostages and offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place," he added.
"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," he said.
This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv, where many Indian students are stuck. The two leaders also discussed the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the conflict areas, a press release said.
On Wednesday, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine also asked Indian nationals to leave Kharkiv – the second-most populous city of the war-hit country – at the earliest, in two urgent back-to-back advisories.
Further, after Russia's claim, US Department of State spokesperson said that they have not seen any verified report of such incidents and these activities are commonly used in Russian disinformation.
Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly on Wednesday approved a resolution demanding Russia to withdraw from Ukrainian territory, 'strongly deploring' Moscow's onslaught of the country.
India abstained from voting against Russia on the UN General Assembly resolution, which condemned the offensive.
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