New Delhi: On Wednesday, Ukraine and Russia accused each other of using Indian and other foreign students as “hostages” in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where thousands of Indian students are stranded amidst heavy fighting.Hours later, the Indian ministry of external affairs denied these allegations, saying no such reports were received on Indians being taken hostage. “Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.“We have not received any report of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country,” he said.The claim was first made by the Russian side, in a readout that was issued after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the evacuation of stranded Indian students, especially in Kharkiv.The Russian readout said “according to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russian territory. Responsibility in this case lies entirely with the Kiev authorities”.The Indian readout did not mention these allegations but said the two leaders “reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv”. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas, it said.Soon after, the Ukrainian foreign ministry accused the Russians of taking foreign nationals hostage. “We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities,” it said.The Russian defence ministry and the Russian Embassy in India also repeated the claims made in the readout issued by the Kremlin.Meanwhile, speaking at the UN General Assembly, India’s permanent representative T.S. Tirumurti said India had demanded safe and uninterrupted passage for all Indian nationals, including students. “We have reiterated this demand to both the Russian Federation and Ukraine. This remains our foremost priority,” he said.Earlier in the day, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine had issued an urgent advisory asking all Indian nationals to leave Kharkiv by 6 pm local time under all circumstances, even by foot. Subsequently, some Indian students had claimed that they were not being allowed to board trains by Ukrainian authorities.The situation in Kharkiv has become particularly concerning for India after a 21-year-old medical student from Karnataka died in Russian shelling on Tuesday.