"Want His Body": Father Of Indian Student Killed In Ukraine To NDTV

Russia-Ukraine War: Indian student Naveen, 21, had been standing in a queue outside a grocery store when the Russians blew up a government building.

Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar spoke to his family at least twice a day from Ukraine's Kharkiv, where he was studying to be a doctor. On Tuesday, he made a quick call before leaving his bunker to bring food supplies. He promised a longer call later.

That call never came. His father, Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, kept calling his phone but got no response. At 2 pm, he finally got a call; it was the foreign ministry, informing him about his son's death in Russian shelling.

"Yesterday morning he called around 10 am. He said I will have breakfast and call. After that, there was no communication. His phone was ringing but no one was picking up. At 2 PM, I received a call from the Ministry of External Affairs. At 4.30 PM, PM (Narendra) Modi called. (Chief Minister Basavaraj) Bommai called. I requested everybody to bring his body home. They said they would arrange for the body to be flown back within two days," Mr Gyanagoudar told NDTV.

Naveen, 21, had been standing in a queue outside a grocery store when the Russians blew up a government building. According to his friends, he had gone out alone to get food and water for the bunker.