‘Worst is behind him’: Union minister tweets as Delhi man who was shot at in Ukraine readies to come home today
Harjot Singh sustained multiple bullet injuries while he was trying to flee to Lviv from Ukrainian capital Kyiv. He had lost his passport, and was later hospitalised in Kyiv.
Delhi resident Harjot Singh will be one of many Indian nationals, who will be flying back to the country from war-torn Ukraine via Poland later in the day. Union minister VK Singh took to Twitter to provide an update on his repatriation saying that he is in “good hands” and the “worst is behind him”.
Harjot was shot at four times while trying to flee the east-European country following its invasion by its former Soviet neighbour Russia, and was later hospitalised. He sustained the injuries while trying to reach Lviv from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and even lost his passport.
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“Let me assure the country that he is in good hands. The worst is behind him. I look forward to seeing him reunited with his family. Hope he recuperates well and fast,” Singh tweeted on Monday.
Harjot is currently in Poland after having crossed over from Ukraine a few hours before. Earlier in the day, when we he was en route to the border between the two countries, he said in a video message shared by news agency ANI that the journey till here has been “very tough” but the willingness in his mind to come back to India kept him going.
Last week, when Harjot was admitted at the hospital in Kyiv, he said that he is constantly following up with Indian embassy officials for his return back to the country but has not received any support so far.
The Indian government has said it will bear all the expenses of Harjot's medical treatment.
"Since I have got a new life, I want to start afresh. Want to spend time with my family,” the 31-year-old IT specialist from Delhi's Chhattarpur area, who was in Ukraine for higher studies, said.
Harjot and two of his friends were on their way to Lviv from Kyiv on February 27, but failed to board a train. They then decided to book private cabs, but were made to return from one check post and told to travel the next day due to security reasons. Later, he was caught in firing that Harjot said began from the top of a building.
“I laid down on the road, placing my hand on the chest. I felt a bullet hit my left knee, another hit my hand and then chest. Then I don’t remember anything,” Harjot said.
He gained consciousness on March 2, and was informed about doctors successfully taking out the bullets from his leg and chest. “But I can't walk,” the Indian added.
India's mission to repatriate its stranded nationals from Ukraine - Operation Ganga, began on February 22 and is currently on its last leg. Till now, more than 15,000 Indians have been evacuated from the east-European nation via land routes in Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Poland and Moldova. The land routes were planned after the Ukrainian government shut down its airspace following the Russian invasion.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) joined the evacuation mission last week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked for the same.
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