Medical Student Killed in Ukraine Was in Supermarket Queue When Russian Shelling Began

Naveen Gyandagoudar, the fourth-year medical student from Karnataka, was standing in a queue at a supermarket to buy groceries when Russia pounded the east Ukrainian city, Kharkiv, with heavy shelling, leading to the loss of his life. The 21-year-old hailed from Chalageri village in Haveri district, located 300 km from Bengaluru, and was studying medicine at Kharkiv Medical University, according to reports.

A report by The Indian Express stated that Naveen was caught in the shelling at around 10.30 am local Ukrainian time. Sridharan Gopalakrishnan, Naveen’s hostel mate, said that they have no information about his body as of now, and they are also not able to visit the hospital, where the body has likely been sent to.

TV9 reported that Naveen’s phone was found by a Ukrainian woman who then informed his friend that he has been killed in shelling and the body had been sent to the mortuary. Naveen’s roommate Amit told TV9 that Naveen had gone to a nearby supermarket in the morning to get some food and his last conversation with his roommates was when he called them to transfer some money to his account for food. But when Naveen didn’t return even after hours, his friends suspected something was amiss. Amit, a fifth-year medical student, was quoted as saying that he knew Naveen for a long time and that they had planned to leave Ukraine together.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Naveen’s family, while CM Basavaraj Bommai extended condolences and also promised to make all efforts to bring back the mortal remains to the country.

Following Naveen’s death, the ministry of external affairs demanded that Russia and Ukraine take urgent steps to ensure safe and secure passage for Indian students stuck in the strife-torn region.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted said that Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has dialled ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine “to reiterate our demand for urgent safe passage for Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones”. “Similar action is also being undertaken by our Ambassadors in Russia and Ukraine,” Bagchi added.

The news of Naveen’s death comes when thousands of Indian students remain stranded in Ukraine, with Indian pulling out all stops to evacuate them. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Tuesday issued an advisory asking all Indian nationals to leave Kyiv “…by available trains or through any other means available”.

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