Countering Russia’s claim of Indians being taken hostage by Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said the students had, in fact, become hostages of Russian aggression.
It said foreign students weren’t able to leave Kharkiv and Sumy because of indiscriminate shelling and missile strikes by Russian forces on residential areas.
“We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other countries whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said. It said Ukraine was committed to providing students all assistance for their safe return to their home countries.