Bengaluru

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday spoke to the family of the Indian who died in shelling in war-torn Ukraine.

Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, the deceased student, was a resident of the state's Haveri district.

"It is a big blow. May the Almighty bestow eternal peace on Naveen. You must be brave to bear the tragic happening," Bommai told the family while expressing grief. The 21-year-old Indian, a student of Kharkiv National Medical University, was reportedly standing in a queue to buy food when he was killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine's Kharkiv earlier Tuesday.

Efforts are now on to bring his mortal remains to India.

"PM Narendra Modi had spoken to the family. We will try our best to recover the body and bring it back to India. I have requested PMO and MEA to help us to recover mortals," said Bommai.

The deceased's father Shekharappa Gyanagoudar said that he had spoken to his son in the morning as he used to call twice or thrice every day.

Till now 49 students of Karnataka have returned from Ukraine, as per the state's official release.

The Union government has launched Operation Ganga to bring back stranded students and Indian citizens from the conflict-torn Ukraine.

Over the last few days, Indian nationals are being evacuated on flights from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania which share borders with Ukraine.

Special flights are being operated by Air India, SpiceJet, and Indigo as part of the massive rescue mission.