New Delhi: An Indian student was reportedly shot at in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, Union Minister VK Singh told a news agency.
The student was trying to escape from the capital when he was injured in firing. He was reportedly taken back to the city and admitted in a hospital.
VK Singh told ANI at Poland’s Rzeszow airport: “This is happening in the fighting… The Indian embassy had earlier cleared on priority that everyone should leave Kyiv.”
The Minister of State for Civil Avaition said the government was “trying for maximum evacuation in (with) minimum loss”.
The injured student Harjot Singh said his leg was fractured from multiple hits, NDTV reported.
Speaking from the Kyiv City hospital, Singh said: “The bullet entered from my shoulder. They took out a bullet from my chest… my leg was fractured.”
He also complained about the lack of government support to fleeing students in Ukraine. He told the channel: “I kept calling officials. I wanted some facility to take me to Lviv. But no one has contacted me.”
Harjot Singh was escaping Kyiv in a taxi with friends when he was shot. He was trying to reach Lviv.
An Indian medical student – Naveen Shekharappa Gyandagoudar from Haveri, Karnataka – was killed two days ago in heavy shelling in Ukraine’s second-populous city Kharkiv.
VK Singh also said that in a war, “the gun bullet does not look at anyone’s religion and nationality”.
He is part of a four-member top team which has spread out to Ukraine’s western neighbours to oversee evacuation of citizens through the border.
The Air Force’s C-17 craft landed at the Hindon airbase near Delhi on Friday morning with 210 people. The plane flew out of Romania’s capital Bucharest.
Another 219 passengers also took off from Romania today and landed in New Delhi.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi told ANI that over 9,000 students have returned to the country from Ukraine.
VK Singh also said seven flights have brought back citizens to India in the last three days. “There were around 200 Indian citizens on each flight. Some students who reached Warsaw and have relatives and friends have decided to stay; they’re safe in Poland,” Singh said.
He said four more flights will take off from Rzeszow and one from Warsaw. “We are trying to evacuate 800 to 900 students as they don’t have a place to stay here. Where will we keep them? A temporary arrangement has been made, but they won’t be comfortable,” he said.
The Air Force has joined India’s massive rescue effort, Operation Ganga, to speed up evacuation.
ANI has reported that India may deploy its Russian-origin Ilyushin-76 heavy-lift transport aircraft in the rescue operations.
Also read: Ukraine crisis has many lessons for India. Most important: Atmanirbharta is the way forward