After the death of an Indian student in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, protest around the evacuation of non-Ukrainians from the country has intensified. After the start of the Russian invasion on Thursday, neighboring countries have opened their borders to refugees, but there have been many reports about foreign residents of Ukraine – especially people of color – being held up by border guards.
The deceased was identified as Naveen Shekharappa of Karnataka. He was reportedly queueing for food when an air strike hit, NDTV said. Shekharappa was a student of medicine, a popular choice among foreign students in the country. Medicine courses are available in English in Ukraine and also offer low costs, quality instruction and large programs with many open seats, attracting many foreigners.
According to the Washington Post, a student from Algeria also died in Kharkiv amidst the shelling. Mohammed Talbi was a student of engineering who had just graduated a few months prior, according to the report.
Out of the around 20,000 Indian nationals living in Ukraine, the majority are students according to numbers by UNESCO. More than 14,000 Indian nationals were studying in Ukraine as of 2020. According to the Indian foreign ministry, around 8,000 Indians had already left Ukraine, had subsequently boarded repatriation flights or were waiting for them. Many of the Indians who are still in Ukraine are believed to be located in Kharkiv.
Other big groups of international students in Ukraine are from North Africa, the Caucasus or Central Asia, for example from Morocco, Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan. The next biggest groups of African students come from Nigeria and Ghana (1,394 students). Groups of more than 1,000 international students in Ukraine also hail from Israel, Jordan, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Iran.
