The Indian student who died in Russian shelling in Ukraine yesterday was advised by his family to "place an Indian flag" outside the building he was in.
Naveen Shekharappa, a 21-year-old from Karnataka, died in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which has been facing intense Russian shelling since yesterday. His friend said he had gone out to get food from a nearby grocery store.
It appears that Naveen and other Indian students had taken shelter in a bunker from where "only 2 per cent people were able to leave".
Asked why he had not gone, he told his father, "There is a rush and the situation is critical".
The final year medical student said he had received information that "now the trains have started running... there is a train at 6 am 10 am and 1 pm".
"Take a decision after seeing the situation there. If you leave 40-50 km, then some way will be found. But without any help, don't take any risk on your own," his father suggested.
Shortly after Naveen's death, Pooja Praharaj, a student coordinator in Kharkiv, told NDTV, "He lived near the Governor's House and had been standing in the queue for food. Suddenly there was an air strike that blew up the Governor's House and he was killed".
Yesterday, the foreign ministry advised students to get out of Kyiv and go to any of the border towns in western Ukraine. But videos continue to come where students say they are not being allowed to board trains, are manhandled and physically thrown out of trains.
At the border, where many reached after walking miles in the sub-zero temperature, they are being made to wait for hours without food or water, the students have said.
