'Walk, but leave Kharkiv': 17,000 Indians have left Ukraine borders

 Student from Punjab suffers stroke, second death of Indian in Ukraine in two days

In terse capital letters, an advisory from the Indian Embassy in Kyiv ordered Indians to leave Kharkiv immediately, on foot if necessary, as a student from Punjab died of a stroke, possibly brought on by anxiety, for which he was already under treatment.

“There has been a sharp increase in the number of Indians who have left Ukraine. We now estimate that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine borders since our advisories were issued,” Spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi said, even as Russia promised “humanitarian corridors” for the safe passage of Indians caught in the war. Around 2,500 Indian students are thought to be still stuck in the city.

In the midst of all this, a throwaway remark by a Union minister about the qualifications of those who go abroad to study medicine because they lack the intellectual bandwidth for medical education in India, sparked off widespread outrage. Even Russia regretted the killing of Naveen Gyanagoudar in the shelling in Kharkiv with Russian ambassador-designate Denis Alipov promising there will be an investigation into the death of the Indian student….Russia Ukraine Conflicts

Ukraine crisis: Indian student killed as Russia intensifies attack

 Govt steps up evacuation efforts; all Indians have left Kyiv: Foreign secy

The first Indian to become collateral damage in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, originally from a small village in Karnataka’s Haveri district, was killed in intense shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday. As the Russian army closed in on Kyiv, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine sent a message to all Indians to get out of the capital immediately, by any means possible. About 400 students who were living near the Indian Embassy were successfully sent to Romania and were on their way home.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday, announced that the Indian Air Force would be deployed for evacuations in addition to commercial aircraft. He also spoke to Naveen’s father, who alleged that the government did nothing to reach out to stranded Indian students in Kharkiv. After the meeting on the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said all Indian nationals had left Kyiv.d.