Govt to bear cost of evacuation flights for Indians from Ukraine

The government is making efforts to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine through its land border crossings with its neighbouring countries and they would then be brought back home, official sources said on Friday.

They said evacuation flights for Indians are being arranged and the transportation cost will be completely borne by the government.

"The Government of India is organising evacuation flights for Indians in Ukraine. The cost will be completely borne by the government for this evacuation," said a source privy to the development.

India is focusing on evacuating the Indians through Ukraine's land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania as the Ukrainian government closed the country's airspace following the Russian military offensive.

Government officials said Air India is planning to operate two flights to the Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday to evacuate some of the Indians.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday that there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days.

In a related development, the Indian embassy in Ukraine said efforts are on to evacuate the Indians through Romanian and Hungarian border crossings.

In an advisory, the embassy said Indian teams are being deputed at the Chop-Zahony check post on the Hungarian border as well as at Porubne-Stret on the Romanian border around Chernivtsi in Uzhhorod.

"In this difficult situation, the embassy of India requests Indians to continue to remain strong, safe and alert. The embassy is also working round the clock to support the Indian community in Ukraine," it said.

"The Government of India and the embassy are working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary," it said.

At a media briefing on Thursday night, Shringla said the government is according the topmost priority to the evacuation of Indians and that teams of Indian officials were on their way to the Zahony border post in Hungary, Krakowiec land border in Poland, Vysne Nemecke in Slovak Republic, and Suceava land border in Romania.

"We have also asked some of our officers to go across and set up camp offices in Ukraine close to the border to the places we have identified -- Lviv, which is close to Poland, and Chernivtsi which is close to Romania," he said.