#RussiaUkraineWar: Indian student shot at in Kyiv, confirms VK Singh
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an Indian student has reportedly been shot at in the country's capital Kyiv, according to Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation General (Retd.) VK Singh. The student was injured in the firing as he was trying to escape Kyiv and has been hospitalized, Singh told news agency ANI. Here are more details.
"A student from Kyiv was reported to have been shot (at) and was immediately admitted to the hospital in Kyiv," Singh told ANI, adding, "This is happening in the fighting." Emphasizing that the Indian embassy had already clarified earlier that Indian citizens should leave Kyiv, he further said, "In the event of war, a bullet does not look at anyone's religion and nationality."
No details regarding the identity of the injured student have been officially revealed yet. This development comes just days after a 21-year-old Indian student's death in shelling at Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv on Tuesday. The deceased, Naveen SG hailing from Karnataka's Haveri district, was a fourth-year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University.
Meanwhile, Singh said the Centre is making efforts to bring the maximum number of students out of Ukraine with the least possible loss. Singh—who is in Poland—is one of the four Union ministers the Centre sent as special envoys to Ukraine's neighboring countries to oversee the evacuation of Indians from the war-torn country. The others include Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Kiren Rijiju.
Last week, the Indian government launched a multi-pronged initiative, called "Operation Ganga," to evacuate Indians from Ukraine through its neighboring countries. It is operating evacuation flights to India from countries like Romania, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, and Slovakia.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to intensify its assault on Ukraine, which entered the ninth day on Friday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) earlier revealed at least a million people have fled Ukraine in just one week. Moscow had launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine last Thursday after weeks of border tensions over the latter's wish to join the international military alliance NATO.
