India rejects claims by Russia, Ukraine that citizens in Kharkiv are 'hostages'

India on Thursday rejected contentions by both Russia and Ukraine that Indian nationals are being held hostage at Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine and said it has asked Ukrainian authorities to arrange special trains to take out its citizens from the besieged city.

India's clarification came hours after both Russia and Ukraine traded charges about Indian nationals being held hostage in Kharkiv, which has witnessed intense Russian bombardment over the past two days. India has stepped up efforts to get its citizens out of Kharkiv following the death of an Indian student in the city on Tuesday.

"We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student," external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

"We have requested support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country," he added.

The Indian spokesperson's statement was in contradiction to Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion, during a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Wednesday, that Indian students in Kharkiv were "taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces" for being used as "a human shield".

There were an estimated 4,000 Indian nationals, mostly students, in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine. India on Wednesday urged all Indians to leave Kharkiv by any means, including on foot, within five hours and move towards three relatively safer zones located within 15 kms of the city.

Bagchi said the Indian Embassy in Ukraine is in "continuous touch" with its nationals across the country and that "many students" had left Kharkiv on Wednesday with the cooperation of Ukrainian authorities.

India has also been coordinating effectively with Ukraine's neighbours, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, and a large number of its nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days, he said.

Bagchi had also told a special media briefing on Wednesday that an estimated 17,000 Indians left Ukraine from the time India issued its first advisories, before the Russian attack on the country began.

On Wednesday, Putin told Modi during a phone conversation that necessary instructions have been given and the Russian military was doing everything possible for the "safe removal of Indian citizens from the war zone".

Putin said the Indian students were "taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russian territory". He added that the responsibility lay entirely with Ukrainian authorities.

Soon after, the Ukrainian foreign ministry, in a statement, rejected the Russian assertions and said students from India, Pakistan, China and other countries couldn't leave Kharkiv and Sumy because of "indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces".