As India continues to evacuate its nationals from war-torn Ukraine, an engineering student has refused to leave the country due to an unusual request.
Rishabh Kaushik, who studies at the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics in east Ukraine, has not left Ukraine as he wanted to take his pet dog with him, a report in NDTV said.
Kaushik said that he is trying to get all the paperwork and clearances done to take his dog with him but he has been stonewalled by officials who sought more documents from him.
“But I just could not get the approvals. I decided then that if my dog can’t leave, I won’t either. I know that there is risk in staying on but I can’t just abandon him. Who will take care of him if I go?” he said.
“They are asking for my air ticket. How can I have an air ticket when the Ukrainian airspace is closed?” he added.
In a video on social media, Kaushik also said that he reached out to the government’s Animal Quarantine and Certification Service (AQCS) in Delhi and also the Indian embassy in Ukraine but there was no positive outcome.
He claimed to have called someone at Delhi’s IGI airport regarding the issue but the person on the other end “hurled abuses at him”.
Rishabh Kaushik, who is currently hiding in a bunker in capital Kyiv, “I would have been in India right now had the Indian government given me the required NOC (no objection certificate) as per the laws.”
He had got ‘Malibu’, the rescue puppy, in February 2021 in Kharkiv. He appealed to the Indian government for help and said he didn’t have any updates from anyone.
“I am stuck here since my flight was on February 27,” he added.
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