Ukraine crisis: What stranded Indians should do to keep themselves safe? Ex-army chief tells

New Delhi, Mar 1: The death of a Karnataka student studying in Ukraine who was killed on Tuesday in a shelling has come as a shock to the Indians even as the parents of the students stranded in the war-torn country pray for the safe return of their children.

Reportedly, the victim named Naveen Shekharappa, a medical student from Karnataka, lost his life at Kharkiv. He had stepped out from the Arkhitektora Beketova Metro station bunker to bring groceries following which he died in a shell attack on the streets of Kharkiv.

So, what should the stranded students do to keep themselves safe in such a situation?

According to former Army chief Gen NC Vij, stranded people should stay put in "bomb shelters" and other safe locations till necessary arrangements are made by Indian missions for their evacuation and safe return.

"They (Indians) are in bomb shelters and other places. They should not be moving around on the roadside looking for some arraignment till the time the immigration part is organized, and the embassy tells them about it. When you reach the immigration point, you will be taken care of because there is some arrangement already done on the ground. That is very important," Gen Vij told ANI.

He also advised people not move on their own to the border areas. "They should not in their anxiety move on their own and try and organize it," Gen Vij, a former Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said.

However, the former Chief of Army Staff hailed the Centre for rescuing Indian citizens. He also appreciated the country's decision to send ministers. as 'Special Envoys' to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate evacuation efforts. "I must say one thing that we must give full credit to the Government of India for taking so much interest in the rescue and evacuation mission.

And the Prime Minister has been heading these meetings himself and they made it very clear that their highest priority is to get the students and the other people out of the country which is a troubled area today. So I think is a very positive sign of what they have done, but there is a lot of work which will have to be done in this and in that these four countries that plus Moldova," Vij said.

Explaining the problems in the ongoing efforts to evacuate the Indians, "One is to inform the parents in India that this action is on. The Cabinet Secretary had a meeting with the chief secretaries and he's telling them and then the parents will be informed. The second part is the evacuation in Ukraine and the third part is at the receiving end, whichever country or the border they are going to. The most difficult part would be the moment within Ukraine," he said.

So far, the Indian embassy in Kyiv on Monday (local time) said that the embassy has successfully facilitated the movement of more than 1,400 students out of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia city. "Successfully facilitated the movement of more than 1,400 students out of Zaporizhzhia, a city in South-East Ukraine, westwards," India in Ukraine tweeted. Agencies