Putin’s hostage claim has few takers; Delhi calls for ‘local ceasefire’ to help exit

Asked about Putin’s statement, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Friday: “We issued a statement yesterday. I clarified it again…I’m not aware of any Indian being held hostage. I mean, unless you have some information that I don’t, they are having difficulty getting out because of the security situation in some places, particularly, I would say in Sumy and in Kharkiv town. But I haven’t heard anybody being held hostage.”

Pressed, he said: “You should always ask the person who makes the statements. Why us?”

Senior officials said Putin’s hostage remark is more war-rhetoric than reality. Speaking to The Indian Express, a top official in the security establishment said that almost all Indian students there had active mobile phone connections and were in touch with their parents, representatives of the Indian Government and in many cases, the media.

“None of them described any situation of them being in captivity or being held hostage or being detained against their wishes,” said the official. “Yes, they may have said some Ukrainian authorities are uncooperative and we are trying our best to work on that.”

More importantly, the official said, no price has been put for the “release” of Indian students. “No Indian student has said that even Rs 500 has been demanded for their safe travel to evacuation sites. No demands for ransom have reached the Government. So how can we describe this as a hostage situation?” the top official said.

Meanwhile, as per Bagchi’s break-up of stranded students, there are 2000-3000 in all: 300 in Kharkiv; 700 in Sumy, where fierce fighting is on; over 900 in Pisochyn, a Kharkiv suburb, from where some were being evacuated in five buses to the western border either to Lviv or Moldova where there’s another batch of under 1,000.

“The (core) problem is how to get these students from their location in Kharkiv, Sumy, and other areas to the eastern border sharing with Russia…there are buses waiting there, but that route is about 50 to 60 km away through the conflict zone. They are too far away and can’t walk that distance. We want safe passage for the students through that area…without a local ceasefire between the Russians and Ukrainians, it is difficult to take these students to the buses. We don’t want to cross the stretch where it is risky…We appeal and urge the parties to have a local ceasefire,” the spokesperson said.

On the assurance yesterday that Russia and Ukraine agreed to created humanitarian corridors to help civilians exit, Bagchi said: “We have not seen anything further to that in terms of implementation…if that happens, it will certainly help our process.”

Around 20,000 Indian nationals have so far crossed the borders of war-torn Ukraine to safety, the MEA said, as reports emerged about a Delhi student getting shot multiple times but miraculously surviving the assault.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired another meeting to review the unfolding situation in Ukraine amid the evacuation. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Minister Piyush Goyal and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval were among those who attended the meeting.

As India’s efforts to rescue its citizens gathered steam, it transpired that Harjot Singh, a student from Delhi’s Chhatarpur, was hit with four bullets, including one on his chest, as he attempted to flee Kyiv. The spokesperson said he was in hospital and the government is in touch with his doctors and will bear his medical cost.

Bagchi said India has evacuated a Bangladeshi national as part of its mission to bring back the stranded Indians. He said 15 flights landed in India as part of the evacuation mission during the last 24 hours, bringing back more than 3,000 people, and 16 more are scheduled over the next 24 hours.