No report of hostage situation of any student in Ukraine: India on Russia's allegation

New Delhi, Mar 03: After Russia claimed that Ukraine is using Indian students as human shields, the ministry of external affairs on Thursday said it has not received any reports of a hostage situation regarding any student in Ukraine.

The official spokesperson of the ministry, Arindam Bagchi said the Indian embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with the Indian nationals in Ukraine.

''Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday. We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student,'' the MEA statement said.

Our response to media queries regarding reports of Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine ⬇️https://t.co/RaOFcV849D pic.twitter.com/fOlz5XsQsc

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) March 3, 2022

The MEA is also co-ordinating with Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova apart from Ukraine for evacuating its nationals from the war-torn nation.

Earlier, Russian Embassy in India claimed that Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield.

"According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities," Russia in India wrote in a tweet.

However, Ukraine has reacted to Russia's allegations and said that "Russians had taken hostage students from India, Pakistan, China and other countries".

"We called on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that they can arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities"," said Ukraine's Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Ukraine demanded Moscow to allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities. "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 statement said.