Indian Student Shot At in Kyiv, Govt To Bear Expenses for His Medical Treatment

Russia's war on Ukraine has killed over 2,000 Ukrainian civilians, Ukraine's state emergency service was quoted as saying on Wednesday, 2 March, by news agency Reuters.

(Photo: PTI/AFP)

An Indian student has reportedly been shot at in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Union Minister VK Singh was quoted as saying by ANI on Friday, 4 March. The boy, identified as Harjot Singh, said he had been trying to flee Kyiv and reach Lviv when he was shot.

Addressing a briefing on Friday evening, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the government of India will be bearing expenses for Singh's medical treatment in Kyiv.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Friday said that the MEA is trying to ascertain Singh's medical status and the Indian Embassy in Ukraine is trying to get an update on his health status. The MEA is facing trouble reaching out to him, Bagchi said.

Student From Kyiv Shot, Says VK Singh

Earlier in the day, Union Minister VK Singh, who is in Poland as one of the four ministers sent as special envoys to Ukraine's neighbouring countries to oversee the evacuation of Indians, said that the Indian student had been taken back to Kyiv and the government was trying to evacuate as many people as possible.

"I received info today that a student coming from Kyiv got shot and was taken back midway. We're trying for maximum evacuation in minimum loss," General VK Singh said.

This comes after two students of Indian nationality died in Ukraine in the past two days.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), on Thursday, 3 March, stated that a total of 18,000 Indian nationals had left Ukraine since the Indian embassy's first advisory.

'I Kept Calling Officials, No One Contacted Me': Harjot Singh

Harjot Singh, who hails from Delhi's Chhattarpur, told NDTV in an interview that he had been travelling with his friends in a cab towards the border for evacuation when he was shot.

Speaking from the Kyiv City Hospital, he said that the bullet had entered his shoulder and that his leg was fractured.

"I kept calling officials. I wanted some facility to take me to Lviv. But no one has contacted me," he told NDTV, adding that the Indian embassy had not responded to him.

Previously, 21-year-old Shekharappa Gyanagoudar had lost his life in a bomb attack in Kharkiv on Tuesday. He was a fourth-year student of forensic science at Kharkiv National Medical University. Another Indian student in Ukraine, Chandan Jindal, succumbed to a stroke, the Ministry of External Affairs had said on Wednesday,

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, 3 March, interacted with students who had returned to India from war-ridden Ukraine and said that if the country had had proper medical education policies, students would not be forced to go abroad.