An Indian student was killed in shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, India’s foreign ministry said.
“Foreign Secretary is calling in Ambassadors of Russia andUkraine to reiterate our demand for urgent safe passage for Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones,” ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said on Twitter.
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Russian forces are firing artillery and laying siege to Kharkiv and other major cities, a Ukrainian official said.
Indians make up around a quarter of the 76,000 foreign students in Ukraine, by far the largest number, according to Ukrainian government data.
New Delhi has evacuated around 4,000 Indians in the last month, but some 16,000 remain trapped since Russia invaded the former Soviet republic last week, according to the latest data from India’s foreign ministry.
The Indian government has dispatched four ministers to neighboring countries to assist in the rescue efforts.
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