Of the 20,000 Indians who were stranded in war-torn Ukraine, 6,000 have been brought back to the country so far and the Centre is making all efforts for the safe return of the remaining ones, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Wednesday.
As many as 31 evacuation flights will be operated to neighbouring countries of crisis-hit Ukraine and will bring back more than 6,300 Indians stranded in the eastern European nation, according to official sources.
Top-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, wearing her national colors of blue and yellow, won on "a special night for me," beating Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday in the first round of the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, Mexico.
Three evacuation flights from Romania's capital Bucharest and Hungary's capital Budapest came to India on Tuesday with 616 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive, officials said.
Videos of a purported security officer hitting a student had gone viral a couple of days ago as the stranded students tried to reach Ukraine's western borders after Russia launched an invasion of the country.
'All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available,' the embassy said.
The IAF is likely to deploy several C-17 aircraft as part of Operation Ganga from Tuesday, they said.
Several Indian students stuck in eastern parts of Ukraine, which is largely affected by the Russian military offensive, are facing a grim situation as it is difficult for them to travel by road to reach the western borders and move out of the war-hit country, one of the students returned to India said.
More than 5,00,000 people have left Ukraine since the start of Russia's military operation and about 1,60,000 have become internally displaced, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council on Monday.
Top external affairs ministry officials on Monday briefed a parliamentary panel about efforts to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, including plans for 13 evacuation flights in the next two-three days to its neighbouring countries and subsequent increase in the number of daily flights to nine, sources said.
Poland's Ambassador to India Adam Burakowski on Monday said his country is allowing entry to people of all nationalities who are leaving war-hit Ukraine by road and food and shelter will be provided to them.
SpiceJet, Air India Express and IndiGo will operate special flights from Hungarian capital Budapest and Romania's Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive.
Indians being evacuated from Ukraine have been exempted from pre-boarding RT-PCR test, providing Covid vaccination certificates and uploading those on the Air Suvidha portal, the health ministry said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, meanwhile, said the sixth flight under India's evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' left for Delhi from Budapest with 240 Indian nationals.
Glimpses of anti-Russia protests in different parts of the world.
India has already set up round-the-clock 'control centres' in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine through border-crossing points with these countries.
Thanks to the depth in their squad, India joined Afghanistan and Romania as the countries to have won a record 12 consecutive Twenty20 Internationals.
Glimpses of Ukranians seeking refuge in neighbouring countries after the Russian invasion.
Aircraft pilot-in-command Captain Achint Bhardwaj spoke exclusively to ANI after landing at Delhi Airport and said that all air traffic controls, including that of Pakistan, extended support during the evacuation mission.
The flight, AI1943, took off from the Mumbai airport around 3.40 am and is expected to land at the Bucharest airport around 10 am (Indian Standard Time), senior government officials said.
Indian nationals who have reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road will be taken to Bucharest by officials of the Indian government so that they can be evacuated in the two Air India flights, they added.
Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine should stay calm and remain wherever they are residing, Russian diplomatic sources said on Friday amid India's diplomatic overdrive to evacuate its citizens from the eastern European nation.
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.
The government is organising evacuation flights for Indians in Ukraine, the sources said, adding that the cost will be completely borne by the government.
India on Thursday abstained in the UN General Assembly on a vote moved by the US to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians while retreating from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Biden stressed over "not fighting a third World War in Ukraine" but avowed sending an "unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory".
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the students were being taken to Poltava, some 175 km south of Sumy, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine.
In the last few days, India has been focusing primarily on ways to get the Indian students out of Sumy, a city that is around 60 km from the Russian border.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh and around 200 Indians, mainly students, also returned to India on the flight that landed at 6.15 pm, they said.
The Indian embassy in Hungary suggested that the evacuation mission from the country is nearing completion as it is beginning the last leg of flights under the operation.
Some complained of being beaten up as they tried to join the fleeing crowds, purely because of their skin colour.
France, who were 2-0 up courtesy of Arthur Rinderknech and Adrian Mannarino, faced little resistance from Ecuador as wins for Benjamin Bonzi and the doubles pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicholas Mahut secured victory for the 10-times champions.
The ministry of external affairs urged Indian students to avoid taking unnecessary risks.
United States President Joe Biden warned Americans in Ukraine to leave the country immediately amid tensions between Moscow and Kiev, saying that sending US troops for an evacuation would mean 'world war'.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the Wimbledon Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Saturday.
Amid the growing tension between Ukraine and Russia, evacuated Indian nationals from the war-torn country have refused to leave their pets behind.
A third-year student of the Vinnytsia National Medical University, Attar had on February 22 booked a ticket for February 27 to fly back home to India.
These flights belong to the fleet of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, Go Air, and also planes from Air Force.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the Wimbledon Champions at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Thursday
'With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning,' the MEA tweeted.
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