India Embassy urges Indians to leave Ukraine's Kharkiv city, as Russian bombs rain down

The Indian embassy in Kyiv issued a special advisory on Wednesday urging Indians to leave Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, by 6pm local time.

In messages posted to Twitter, the embassy advised Indian nationals travel to "Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka" settlements that are are 11, 12 and 16 km away from Kharkiv respectively. Students can walk to those settlements if they are unable to find transport, the embassy added.

URGENT ADVISORY TO INDIAN STUDENTS IN KHARKIV.@MEAIndia @PIB_India @DDNational @DDNewslive pic.twitter.com/2dykst5LDB

— India in Ukraine (@IndiainUkraine) March 2, 2022

The advisory comes as Indian journalists and Twitter users speculate that Russia has allowed a six-hour window, until 6pm local time, to give Indians safe passage out of Kharkiv before they bombard the city.

The city has already suffered horrendous assaults from Russian forces killing dozens, possibly hundreds of civilians.

The Russians apparently agreed to a six hour window for allowing safe passage to all Indians in Kharkiv before an all-out assault begins tonight . The deadline is 2130 IST, about 3 hours from now. #UkraineWar

— Nitin A. Gokhale (@nitingokhale) March 2, 2022

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to talk later today to discuss the safe passage of Indians from Kharkiv, according to Sidhant Sibal, the diplomatic and defence correspondent for WION News.

Breaking: Indian PM, Russian President Putin to hold talks later today. Talks amid Indian request for safe passage for Indian nationals in conflict areas like Kharkiv

— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) March 2, 2022

One Indian is confirmed to have been killed in the Russian onslaught on Kharkiv, amid criticism for New Delhi's delayed evacuation of citizens from Ukraine.

India has so far restrained from directly condemning Russia given the longstanding ties between New Delhi and Moscow. It was one of three countries to abstain from voting in favour of a US-drafted bill at the United Nations that condemned Russian aggression and called for a ceasefire.

Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine began on the morning of 24 February, and has resulted in thousands of Ukrainian deaths and widespread damage to the country’s infrastructure.