NEW DELHI: As India tightened its stance following the death of an Indian student in Ukraine, Russia has extended its support for India’s rescue operations. Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov has assured Russia’s support in the evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine.

India had repeatedly asked for help in repatriating Indians stranded in Ukraine via Russia, but there was no response. However, India had warned of changing its stance in the Ukraine issue, following the death of Naveen Shekharappa, an Indian medical student from Karnataka, in a shelling in Kharkiv. The foreign affairs ministry had summoned the Russian ambassador and informed the matter, the previous day. Reports suggest that India had conveyed to Russia that the deteriorating situation in Kharkiv was a matter of grave concern for the government and that India cannot sit idle while innocent Indians are getting killed. Subsequently, Russia has responded to take immediate action in the matter.

The Russian ambassador also thanked India for its unbiased and neutral position concerning the whole conflict and assured support in evacuation. “We are strategic allies with India. We are grateful to India for its balanced position displayed at the UN. India understands the depth of the crisis”, he said.

Speaking on the impact of sanctions against Russia and its defence deal with India, the ambassador said, “Don’t foresee any obstacles as far as S-400 supply to India is concerned, have routes to continue with this deal unobstructed. Sanctions-old or new, do not interfere in any way.” However, a decision has not yet been made on when the evacuation will begin. The move is to evacuate 4,000 Indian students stranded in Kharkiv and Sumy.