Bengaluru, Mar 3

 Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday spoke to students from the state stranded in war-torn Ukraine and assured them of all possible efforts towards safely evacuating them back to home.

According to the Chief Minister’s office, about 200 students from the state are stranded in besieged city of Kharkiv.

Bommai spoke to Gagan Gowda, who hails from Bengaluru and other students from the state over phone and listened to the issues faced by them, a CMO statement said.

Explaining their situation, the students informed the CM that they have walked to a place about 30 km from Kharkiv, and were safe as of now.

Asking the students to be brave, Bommai said his government was in constant touch with the External Affairs Ministry and all efforts have been made to ensure that they get cooperation from them.

He also assured them that he will make all efforts to bring them back home safely.

Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, a 21-year-old medical student from Haveri district in Karnataka was killed in Russian shelling in Kharkiv city on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Nodal Officer and Commissioner Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) Manoj Rajan said, a total of 149 people from the state have returned so far from Ukraine, under “Operation Ganga”.