Ukraine crisis: Indian students claim mistreatment after New Delhi abstains from UN vote

After India abstained from condemning the Russian invasion, some stranded Indian students report facing harassment and hostility by Ukrainian officials at the border with Poland

With others saying they are in ‘dire straits’ as their money, food and medical supplies run low, New Delhi is feeling the heat to intensify evacuation efforts

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Indian girls wait for transport as refugees from many different countries, mostly students of Ukrainian universities arrive at the Medyka pedestrian border crossing fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, in eastern Poland on February 27, 2022. - Photo: AP

Published: 11:00am, 1 Mar 2022Updated: 1:14pm, 9 Mar 2022

As more than 14,000 Indian students remain stranded in war-torn Ukraine, there are claims New Delhi’s abstention at the United Nations is affecting their ability to flee, with one former envoy describing the situation as “crass diplomatic blackmail”.

India on Saturday abstained from voting on a UN Security Council draft resolution that “deplores in the strongest terms” Russia’s attack of a sovereign state, even as it called for Moscow to end all hostilities.

Russia is one of India’s closest defence partners, buying billions of dollars of weapons from it.

A man with an Indian flag arrives at the Medyka pedestrian border crossing, in Przemsyl, eastern Poland. Photo: AFP

But Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine say the abstention has resulted in harassment and hostility at the hands of Ukrainian officials.

Multiple Indian media reports quoted students who said they faced discrimination at border checkpoints, resulting in Ukraine’s Ambassador to India, Igor Polikha, holding a briefing on Monday where he gave assurances that Ukraine was doing all it could to help Indian nationals leave.

A dentistry student from Kyiv’s Bogomolets National Medical University told This Week in Asia: “Five of us waited in queues for 14 hours at the Polish-Ukrainian border, but the officials didn’t let us pass. They kept asking us to ‘wait’, even though they were letting the Ukrainians cross over.”

Polikha said the delays were due to the sheer number of Ukrainians and foreigners attempting to escape to Poland, the Hindustan Times reported.