The distant Russia-Ukraine war hit home in Inda when news came of a 21-year-old Indian student being killed in shelling in Ukraine. Naveen Shekharappa, a final-year medical student from Karnataka's Haveri, died when Russian soldiers blew up a government building on Tuesday.

Shekharappa was standing in a queue outside a grocery store for food when he was hit. "Suddenly there was an air strike that blew up the Governor's House and he was killed," Pooja Praharaj,  a student coordinator in Kharkiv,  told NDTV shortly after the student's death.

(Courtesy Amit Lath, VP, Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce)

"With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family," tweeted the External Affairs Ministry.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the government had called on warring countries to provide urgent safe passage for Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones. 

Around 16,000 Indian students are still stranded in Ukraine. Many students have shared photos and videos on social media from underground bunkers, metro stations and bomb shelters, where they have been hiding since the Russian attack started last Thursday. Around 8,000 Indian nationals have left till now in special flights arranged by the Indian government, first from Kyiv, the capital, and subsequently, from Bucharest and Budapest, the capitals of Romania and Hungary, neighbours of Ukraine, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

As Russian forces continued their advance in Ukraine, shelling cities, India urged all its citizens to leave Ukraine's capital Kyiv "urgently today, by trains or any other means available".

"All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available," the Indian Embassy in Ukraine tweeted.

Several Indian students remain stuck in eastern parts of Ukraine, which is most affected by the Russian military offensive, and they are finding it difficult to travel by road to reach the western borders. Students have also been walking to the borders in sub-zero conditions, hoping to cross over and take a flight home, Indian media reported. 

Yesterday, the embassy had asked students to go to the railway station in Kyiv, where special evacuation trains have been arranged by Ukraine to take people to the western region. The students were asked to carry their passports, enough cash and proper warm clothing.

Many students complained that they were not allowed to board the trains or they were mistreated by local officials, who were taking it out on Indian students for their government not coming out in support of Ukraine in the war.

Government sources, however, told The Indian Express that the embassy ensured the movement of more than 1,000 students from Kyiv towards Western Ukraine yesterday, including around 400 students housed near the Embassy since last week.

Indian students are being moved to Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic - all nations which share border with Ukraine - before they are brought back to India.

Few other countries have as many students, mostly studying medicine, as India has, with Nepal and Bangladesh, among South Asian countries having a few hundred students each. 

India had in the United Nations offered to also evacuate nationals of its neighboring countries, as well as other developing countries, though the evacuation process seems to be slow, with too many students to be airlifted amid deteriorating war conditions. 

(SAM)