Naveen was a final year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University.
Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, a 21-year-old medical student from Karnataka, was standing in the queue for food in Ukraine's Kharkiv this morning when he was killed in Russian shelling.
Not long before going out for food and cash, Naveen had spoken to his father, Shekar Gowda, and had told him that there was no food or water left in the bunker he had been hiding in with a few others from Karnataka.
Naveen was a final year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University. He was from Karnataka's Haveri and lived near a prominent government building that was blown up by Russian soldiers.
"With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family," tweeted the External Affairs Ministry, confirming the tragic news from Ukraine.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said Shekar Gowda, "choking with grief", said he had spoken with his son "just in the morning over the phone and he used to call up twice or thrice every day".
Pooja Praharaj, a student coordinator in Kharkiv, spoke to NDTV shortly after the student's death.
"He had only gone to get food. For others in the hostel, we provide food, but he stayed in a flat just behind the Governor's House. He had been standing in the queue for an hour or two. Suddenly there was an air strike that blew up the Governor's House and he was killed," Ms Praharaj said.
News of his death broke when a Ukrainian woman picked up his phone, said the student coordinator.
"Speaking from his phone, she said the owner of this phone is being taken to the morgue," she shared.
Naveen's friend Shridharan Gopalakrishnan said he last saw him around 8.30. But he gave a different version of how he was killed.
"Naveen was shot dead around 10.30 am Ukrainian time today. He was standing in the queue before a grocery shop when the Russian army fired at people. We have no information about his body. None of us was able to visit the hospital, probably where it is kept now," Sridharan said.