Indian Student Killed In Shelling In Ukraine’s Kharkiv

An Indian student lost his life in shelling in Ukraine this morning, the foreign ministry has said. The student, from Karnataka’s Haveri, died when Russian soldiers blew up a government building on Tuesday.

“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.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, videos showed extensive damage from the Russian military assault. One video showed the city’s largest government building blown up.

The student who lost his life had gone out for food, said Pooja Praharaj, a student coordinator in Kharkiv.

Ms Praharaj, who is a final year medical student studying I Kharkiv, spoke to NDTV shortly after the student’s death.

“He had only gone to get food. For others in the hostel, we provide food but he stayed in a flat just behind the Governor’s House. He had been standing in the queue for an hour or two. Suddenly there was an air strike that blew up the Governor’s House and he was killed,” Ms Praharaj said.

A Ukrainian woman picked up his phone, said the student coordinator.

“Speaking from his phone, she said the owner of this phone is being taken to the morgue,” she shared.

This morning, the Indian Embassy advised all citizens, including students, to leave Ukraine capital Kyiv “urgently today, by trains or any other means available”.