Ukraine Calls on India, Pakistan, China to Demand Release of Students Allegedly Held Hostage by Russia

Ukrainian nationals arrive by train from Kyiv, Ukraine at the main train station in Przemysl, Poland, on Feb. 28, 2022. Omar Marques/Getty Images

Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Thursday called on the governments of India, Pakistan, China, and other counties to demand the release of students who have allegedly become hostages to Russia, while Russian officials claimed that Ukraine is keeping them hostage.

In a statement, Ukraine’s foreign ministry asked governments to demand that Moscow allow a “humanitarian corridor” to be opened in Ukraine so that civilians can be taken to other safer cities amid the Moscow-led invasion.

“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,” the ministry said.

The ministry also urged Russian forces to “immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy” so that civilians, including foreign students, can be evacuated 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 ministry said.

“The Government of Ukraine stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should Russia commit to a ceasefire. Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous.”

Ukraine’s government is committed to providing foreign students currently stranded in the country with all of the “necessary assistance” they need to leave and return safely to their home countries, the ministry added.

The ministry’s statement comes after the Russian government claimed that Ukrainian forces are keeping a large group of Indian students as “hostages” in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, continues to be bombarded with Russian missiles, many of which are reportedly striking civilian infrastructure.

Footage released by Ukraine’s Ministry of Emergency Situations on Wednesday showed the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kharkiv in flames as firefighters battled to put out the blaze.

On Tuesday, the region’s administrative building on Freedom Square in Kharkiv was hit by what is widely believed to be a missile, leaving six people dead.

“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,” the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday.

“In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place,” the ministry 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 Indian government on Thursday morning local time denied such reports from Russia and said its embassy in Ukraine was in constant communication with Indian nationals who were still in the country.

“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,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.

Bagchi added that India has been coordinating with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova and that a “large number” of Indians have been evacuated from Ukraine in recent days.

Around 8,000 Indians, the majority of the students, are believed to still be stranded in Ukraine. The Indian government has asked its nationals to leave Kharkiv urgently to three nearby places “even on foot“ if they cannot take other means of transportation.

“The students who cannot find vehicles or buses and are in Railway station can proceed on foot to Pesochyn, Babai and Bezlydivka,” the Indian embassy in Ukraine said on Wednesday. “Proceed immediately. Under all circumstances, Indians must reach these settlements by 1800 hours (Ukrainian time) today,” it said.

The government officials of Pakistan and China have not yet commented on the statement from Ukraine’s foreign ministry.