Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Meets and Embraces Putin As Russia Carries Out Deadly Assault on Ukraine

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian self-proclaimed President Vladimir Putin at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow on July 8, while Russian missiles attacked Ukrainian cities in a morning rush hour assault that killed at least 38 people and injured 170 others.

Modi’s two-day trip marks his first visit to Russia since Putin began his full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two and a half years ago. Images and video from Monday show the two leaders hugging, chatting over tea, riding in an electric vehicle, and watching a horse show.

“It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy embrace the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on July 8, referring to the deadly Russian attacks.

Modi did not address the strikes while speaking to the Indian diaspora in Moscow on Tuesday but praised relations between the two countries. He also announced the opening of two new consulates in the Russian cities of Yekaterinburg and Kazan to “facilitate travel and business.”

“No matter if the temperatures in Russia are in minus, Russia-India friendship has always been in plus,” Modi said. “This is a relationship built on a foundation of mutual trust and mutual respect.”

The large-scale daylight bombardment struck the capital Kyiv and cities including Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Slovyansk, and Kramatorsk — some of which are heavily populated areas far from the front lines.

In Kyiv, 28 people were killed, including four children, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported on July 9. Two people were killed, and at least 50 others were injured in the strike on Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt hospital.

The facility is Ukraine’s largest children’s medical center and has been crucial in the care of some of the sickest children from across the country. Over 600 patients and staff were present at the “Ohmatdyt” hospital when the rocket attack struck. Evacuation efforts are ongoing.