New Delhi:
Amid growing concerns about Indian students stranded in war-torn Ukraine, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav today received 183 Indian students evacuated from the crisis-ravaged country. As part of Operation Ganga – India’s evacuation mission for its nationals – the minister said 2,200 Indians are expected to land in India today.
“Received 183 of our Indian students stranded in Ukraine who have returned to the mother country today.
More than 2,200 Indians are expected to be back home today.
The government is leaving no stone unturned to get its citizens back from the conflict zone.
#OperationGanga,” he tweeted this morning.
Received 183 of our Indian students stranded in Ukraine who have returned to the mother country today.
More than 2,200 Indians are expected to be back home today.
The government is leaving no stone unturned to get its citizens back from the conflict zone.#OperationGanga † pic.twitter.com/r40QMR5wGY
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) March 6, 2022
After desperate pleas from Indian students trapped amid a raging war, India’s foreign ministry said yesterday it has “strongly urged” the Russian and Ukrainian governments through multiple channels for an immediate ceasefire to create a safe corridor for its students. It also claimed that the ministry and Indian embassies are in regular contact with the students, who have posted desperate and emotional pleas to be evacuated from the conflict-ravaged area.
The Indian embassy in Kiev claimed on Saturday (local time) that all Indian nationals have been evacuated from the city of Pisochyn in Ukraine.
About 13,300 people have so far returned to India from Ukraine with 63 flights under Operation Ganga, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, adding that 15 flights have landed in the past 24 hours with about 2,900 on board.
This comes shortly after Indian students stranded in the northeastern Ukraine town of Sumy shared videos saying they had decided to take a risky journey to the Russian border, which is 50 kilometers away. In what they claimed would be their “last video” of Sumy, they said the Indian government and its embassy in Ukraine would be responsible if anything happened to them.
However, the students decided not to leave after being approached by the embassy.
At least 1,000 Indians – 700 in Sumy and 300 in Kharkiv – are still stranded in conflict zones in eastern Ukraine, the government said Friday, adding that arranging buses to evacuate them has proved to be the biggest challenge right now.