NEW DELHI: An Indian student was killed on Tuesday in shelling in Ukraine, New Delhi said, as it urged Moscow and Kyiv to secure safe passage for around 12,000 of its stranded nationals.
"With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Twitter.
He added that the foreign secretary -- the ministry's top civil servant -- was "calling in the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors to reiterate our demand for urgent safe passage for Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones."
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, has been a target for Russian forces since President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of the eastern European country last week.
On Tuesday, the central square of the city near the Russian border was shelled by advancing forces who hit the building of the local administration, regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the shelling as a "war crime", adding in a video statement: "This is state terrorism on the part of Russia."
But Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla did not criticise Russia.
Naming the student as Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, he told reporters: "From what we understand from his friends, he had come out to buy some groceries, he was at a shop in a line when he was hit, I don't know how.
"The circumstances are not absolutely clear," he added. "It is a conflict zone and it's a very unfortunate situation."
In the southern Indian state of Karnataka, the student's father pleaded to Indian authorities and representatives in Ukraine: "Bring back my son's dead body."
Before Russia's invasion, there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine. Around 8,000 have since managed to leave the country, of whom some 1,400 have been flown back to India, according to officials.
According to Indian media, some Indian students are being prevented from crossing into neighbouring countries, with border guards reportedly refusing to let them pass and demanding money.
Aruj Raj, a student in Kharkiv, told the Hindustan Times that he had been in a hostel bunker with 400 other Indian students since Thursday.
"There is so much bombing happening outside," he said. "We can see street fighting through our windows.
"The city is still under curfew. It is impossible for us to step outside. We hardly have anything left to eat or drink."
New Delhi has long walked a tightrope in its relations with Moscow and the West, while getting most of its arms from Russia. Last week it abstained in a vote on the UN Security Council resolution deploring Russia's "aggression".
Indian student killed in Ukraine shelling
https://arab.news/bcswd
Indian student killed in Ukraine shelling
- "An Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning," said an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the shelling as a "war crime"
US Justice Department official eyes cases against Cuba leaders as Trump floats ‘friendly takeover’
- “Working group” formed to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government
- Trump’s has increasingly displayed aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership
MIAMI: The top Justice Department prosecutor in Miami is considering criminal investigations of Cuban government officials, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry comes as President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has created a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to try to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government and its Communist Party, according to one of the people. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the effort.
It was not immediately clear which Cuban officials the office is targeting or what criminal charges prosecutors may be looking to bring.
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that “federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
The effort is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership.
Emboldened by the US capture of Cuba’s close ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump last month said his administration was in high-level talks with officials in Havana to pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country. He repeated those claims this week, saying his attention would turn back to Cuba once the war with Iran winds down.
“They want to make a deal so bad,” Trump said of Cuba’s leadership.
While Cuba has faded from Washington’s radar as a major national security threat in recent decades, it remains a priority in the US Attorney’s office in Miami, whose political, economic and cultural life is dominated by Cuban-American exiles.
The FBI field office has a dedicated Cuba group that in 2024 was instrumental in the arrest of former US Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha on charges of serving as a secret agent of Cuba stretching back to the 1970s.
In recent weeks, several Miami Republicans, in addition to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, have called on the Trump administration to reopen its criminal investigation into the 1996 shootdown of four planes operated by anti-communist exiles.
In a letter to Trump on Feb. 13, lawmakers including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez highlighted decades-old news reports indicating that former President Raúl Castro — the head of Cuba’s military at the time — gave the order to shoot down the unarmed Cessna aircraft.
“We believe unequivocally that Raúl Castro is responsible for this heinous crime,” lawmakers wrote. “It is time for him to be brought to justice.”
While no indictment against Castro has been announced, Florida’s attorney general said this week that he would open a state-level investigation into the crime.
The Trump administration has also accused Cuba of not cooperating with American counterterrorism efforts, adding it alongside North Korea and Iran to a select few nations the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation stems from Cuba’s harboring of US fugitives and its refusal to extradite several Colombian rebel leaders while they were engaged in peace talks with the South American nation.
