Ukraine conflict Evacuation of 700 Indian students stuck in Ukraine's Sumy on hold again
New Delhi/IBNS: The evacuation of around 700 Indian students stranded in battle-hit Ukraine's Sumy was put on hold again Monday as Ukraine vetoed the Russian idea of a humanitarian corridor from three of its cities to Russia and Belarus.
The "corridors" were to be opened from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Mariupol and the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Sumy.
According to the students, they have been waiting for an evacuation since Saturday.
The Indian foreign ministry, however, said the main challenges were the ongoing shelling, violence and the lack of transportation.
An Indian team from the embassy has been on stand-by at Poltava - nearly a three-hour drive from Sumy - to coordinate the safe passage of the students.
On Saturday, unable to cope with the drastic cold weather, depleting food and water supplies, the students shared videos saying they have decided to take a risky journey to the Russian border 50 km away.
But the government had contacted them and asked them to "avoid unnecessary risks".
Under the Russian evacuation plan, the corridor from Kyiv would lead to Belarus, while civilians from Kharkiv would be permitted to go only to Russia, the Russian state-owned RIA News agency said. Russia also said it would begin airlifts to take Ukrainians from Kyiv to Russia.
A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, called the move "completely immoral" and said Russia was trying to "use people's suffering to create a television picture".
"They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine," news agency Reuters quoted the spokesperson as saying.
"This is one of the problems that is causing the humanitarian corridors to break down. They seem to agree to them, but they themselves want to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV, and want the corridors to lead in their direction," he added.
PM Modi speaks to Vladimir Putin:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day when they discussed the evolving situation in Ukraine.
During the interaction, Modi voiced concern for the safety and security of Indian students who are still remaining in Sumy.
"The two leaders discussed the evolving situation in Ukraine. President Putin briefed Prime Minister Modi on the status of negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian teams. Prime Minister Modi welcomed the ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and expressed hope that they would lead to cessation of the conflict," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
He suggested that a direct conversation between President Putin and President Zelenskyy may greatly assist the ongoing peace efforts.
President Putin briefed the Prime Minister about the ongoing measures related to humanitarian corridors for facilitating evacuation of civilians including Indian students.
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