India has refuted claims that its students have been held hostage amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement saying that many students have left Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, adding that Indian authorities have not received reports of a hostage situation regarding any student.
"The MEA is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine and is co-ordinating with Ukrainian authorities for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of Ukraine," the statement said.
The MEA asserted that it is also coordinating with Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova apart from Ukraine to evacuate its nationals from the war-torn region.
This comes after Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that Indian students were taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who were using them as human shields.
Ukraine reacted to Russia's allegations and 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".
"There are students from India, Pakistan, China and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that the Ukrainian government stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy. "The Government of Ukraine stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should Russia commit to a ceasefire. Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous," it said.
Ukraine demanded Moscow to allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a tweet, said that the country has established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine as the tensions between Moscow and Kyiv rages on.