More than 12,000 Indians have left Ukraine since the first advisory was issued, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on March 1, hours after the death of an Indian student was reported in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kharkiv.
"We had an estimated 20,000 Indian students in Ukraine at the time that we issued our first advisory. From that number approximately 12,000 have since left Ukraine, which is 60 percent of the total number of our citizens in Ukraine," Shringla said in a press briefing.
"Of the remaining 40 percent, roughly half remain in conflict zone in Kharkiv, Sumy area and the other half have either reached the western borders of Ukraine or are heading towards the western part of Ukraine - they are generally out of conflict areas," the foreign secretary added.
In the capital Kyiv, which is emerging as a war zone after being targeted with Russian bombardments, no Indian is left at this moment, Shringla claimed.
"All of our nationals have left Kyiv. The information with us is that we have no more nationals left in Kyiv, nobody has contacted us from Kyiv since. All our inquiries reveal that each and every one of our nationals has come out of Kyiv," he further noted.
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Earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed the death of an Indian student, identified as 22-year-old Naveen Shekhararappa Gyanagoudar, belonging to Karnataka's Haveri district, in the military shelling in Kharkiv.
Officials said they learnt from the deceased's friend that "he had left for a nearby store to buy something" when he suffered the fatal injuries.
"With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said.
The military shelling in Kharkiv has been reported for the first time since World War II, when the forces led by the then German dictator Adolf Hitler had attacked the city.
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky has fiercely condemned the "Russian shelling" in Kharkiv, calling it an act of "war crime".
Indian government sources who spoke to ANI said the deteriorating situation in Kharkiv is a "matter of grave concern". The safety and security of Indian nationals in that city is of "utmost priority to government", they added.
The death of Gyanagoudar is the first casualty to be reported among Indian students -- who numbered around 18,000 in Ukraine before the start of the conflict.
The Indian government has been arranging evacuation flights to bring back the nationals and students who are stranded in the eastern European nation.
The MEA on February 28 said nearly 8,000 Indian nationals returned from Ukraine over the past month, and a total of 1,396 Indians were brought back in the evacuation flights being operated since the past week.
The government has decided to send four senior Union ministers - Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and V K Singh - to the countries neighbouring Ukraine to monitor the evacuation operations.
Scindia would be overseeing the evacuation efforts from Romania and Moldova, while Rijiju was to travel to Slovakia, officials said, adding that Puri will go to Hungary and Singh will be in Poland.
The decision to send the ministers came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that ensuring the safety of Indian students and evacuating them is the government’s top priority.
Modi, who spoke with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 27, expressed his concern for the thousands of Indian students who are stranded in the country. On February 28, Modi also spoke to Eduard Heger, the Prime Minister of neighbouring Slovak, to discuss the evacuation of Indians.
A section of the Opposition, however, has accused the government of taking insufficient measures to rescue the stranded Indian nationals. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asked the government to "urgently share the detailed evacuation plan".
Reacting to the death of Indian student in Kharkiv, Gandhi tweeted, "My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. I reiterate, GOI needs a strategic plan for safe evacuation. Every minute is precious (sic)."
Notably, the bulk of Indian students stranded in Ukraine were pursuing medical education. After the Kyiv-Moscow tensions escalated, New Delhi had issued multiple advisories asking all Indians on non-essential stay to leave the country at the earliest.
The Russian army launched an invasion on February 24, targeting regions that are located on the eastern frontier of Ukraine.
The western region of Ukraine, which is closer to the Romanian, Polish and Slovak borders, is considered to be relatively safer. The MEA recommended the stranded Indian nationals in Kyiv - where the curfew was lifted on February 28 - to travel by train towards the western borders.
"Once you (stranded citizens) cross the Ukrainian border, we will make sure to bring you back. The main focus is to ensure that Indians are able to cross over from Ukraine and neighbouring countries that I mentioned," Bagchi had said.
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