NEW DELHI: Harjot Singh, an Indian student, was shot at while trying to escape Kyiv in a taxi on February 27, it was reported for the first time on Friday and confirmed by the Centre. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the government will bear the cost of treatment of Singh, who he is in a Kyiv hospital. Indian officials were trying to “reach out” to him, but were facing difficulty as Ukraine’s capital is now a full-blown conflict zone. Singh (31) hails from Delhi’s Chattarpur, reports PTI, adding he had taken four bullets, including one in the chest.
Most Indian embassy officials have shifted from Kyiv to Lviv near the border with Poland and the location of others remains dynamic, said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, adding, “so it’s not easy to re-enter Kyiv (and help out the injured Indian student.’’
Govt of India will be bearing expenses for Harjot Singh’s medical treatment (in Kyiv, #Ukraine.) We are trying to a… https://t.co/zQ7vm9mEEV
— ANI (@ANI) 1646399439000
“We were in a cab to Lviv. We were stopped at a barricade and suddenly it was raining bullets. I thought this is the end. I am alive by god’s grace,” Harjot Singh told PTI over phone. “I don’t know what happened to the people (his two friends) I was with. If they made it or not, I have no clue. I thought I will not make it,” Singh said.
“When he regained consciousness three days later, he was in a hospital with bullet injuries and a fractured leg. All his documents, including passport, are missing. He has no idea what happened to his friends,” Singh’s brother Prabhjot Singh told PTI.
Meanwhile, of the 1,000 Indian students who had reached Pesochin near Kharkiv, many had left for Lviv in 2 buses and many others towards the border with Moldova in 3 other buses. Two more buses were scheduled to leave the area with Indian students in Friday evening.
While the Centre described as a good step Russian announcement that 130 buses were waiting to evacuate Indian students from eastern Ukraine to Belgorod in Russia, MEA said the students were located at a distance of 50-60 km from the buses and that it wasn’t possible to board the vehicles without passing through the war zone. “Need to see the full picture. While it’s a good step, the key step of taking the students to the buses through a conflict zone is missing. We are in touch with both Russia and Ukraine for a local ceasefire to facilitate evacuation,’’ said the official.
Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla had spoken to the Ukraine deputy foreign minister for help in evacuation from eastern Ukraine and also for bringing back the mortal remains of the Indian student, Naveen Shekhrappa, who was killed earlier in shelling.
While Russia and Ukraine were reported to have agreed in their talks Thursday for a humanitarian corridor, the government said it had heard nothing about the implementation of the proposal. The government again denied that any Indian student in Ukraine had been taken hostage. Following the earlier claims by Russia that Indian students had been taken hostage and were being used as human shields by Ukraine forces, President Vladimir Putin was again quoted as saying Thursday that 3000 Indian students were being held hostage in Kharkiv.
Watch Ukraine crisis: Injured Indian student’s fervent appeal to embassy will bring tears to your eyes