Photo:VCG

After verifying with the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine told the Global Times exclusively that previous media reports that said two Chinese students in the academy were killed in their dormitory by Russian bombing were false. 

Some media outlets including those holding a longstanding anti-China stance like Radio Free Asia and the Epoch Times, citing Ukrainian local media Obozrevatel, reported that the Russian army opened fire and killed 13 students in the academy, including four Chinese students, two of whom were Jin Tianhao and Li Zhi.

However, after verifying with the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine told the Global Times on Friday that there were no Chinese students named Jin Tianhao or Li Zhi in the institute. 

The school building remains intact and the shells landed near the school, the embassy said. 

As far as we know, only one Chinese national has been injured during the Ukrainian crisis. He was shot on his way from Kiev to Lviv amid the Russia-Ukraine confrontations, but was treated timely and has been discharged from the hospital, the embassy said, noting that it is trying to help him return to China. 

After the situation in Ukraine deteriorated, the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine started efforts to evacuate Chinese students from the country, and there were no casualties among them, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine announced on Friday to dispel misinformation.

There are about 2,700 Chinese students in Ukraine that need to be evacuated, but time is limited and the situation is complicated, the spokesperson said.

The Chinese Embassy has made strenuous efforts to make the evacuation effective and safe, said the spokesperson, noting that Ukraine opened a special express for Chinese students in Kharkiv and played a positive role in helping the Chinese students stuck in the conflicts. 

The spokesperson noted that the Chinese Embassy will continue with the efforts to evacuate more Chinese students.

Global Times