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Hours after Russia claimed that Ukrainian security forces had kidnapped Indian students, India declared on Thursday (March 3, 2022) that it had received no reports of a hostage situation.

The Indian Embassy in Ukraine is in constant contact with Indian people in the war-torn country, according to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.

"We have not received any reports of any student being held hostage. We have asked the Ukrainian government to assist us in organising special trains to transport students from Kharkiv and surrounding areas to the western portion of the nation "Added the statement.

The MEA stated, "We have been efficiently working with nations in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova."

The ministry also expressed gratitude to the Ukrainian authorities for their assistance in making this possible, as well as Ukraine's western neighbours for receiving Indian people and lodging them as they awaited planes back home.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Embassy in India alleged that Ukrainian security forces had kidnapped Indian students and were using them as a human shield.

"According to the most recent intelligence, these students have been kidnapped by Ukrainian security forces, who are using them as a human shield to prevent them from fleeing to Russia. In this scenario, the Kyiv authorities bear sole responsibility "In India, Russia wrote in a tweet.

"According to our knowledge, Ukrainian authorities are detaining forcibly a big group of Indian students in Kharkov who desire to leave Ukrainian territory and travel to Belgorod," a Russian Ministry of Defense official stated during the briefing.

"They are being held as hostages and are being offered the opportunity to flee Ukraine via the Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to travel across areas where active hostilities are occurring "he stated

Ukraine answered to Russia's accusations by requesting that it "immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that they can coordinate the evacuation of the civilian population, including international students, to safer Ukrainian towns."

"There are students from India, Pakistan, China, and other countries who are unable to leave because to the Russian Armed Forces' indiscriminate shelling and barbarous missile strikes on civilian infrastructure and residential areas," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, the Ukrainian government is willing to help international students relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy.

"Should Russia agree to a ceasefire, the Ukrainian government stands ready to help international students in relocating from Kharkiv and Sumy. Attempting to organise evacuations through cities under Russian bombing and missile strikes is exceedingly perilous, according to experts "According to the statement, In a statement, the Ministry said.