At a time when Ukraine is under attack by Russia, numerous Indians are stranded in Ukraine. While the Centre is saying it was making all possible efforts to evacuate Indian citizens stuck in the war zone, fear and helplessness have taken over. Ukrainian envoy to India Igor Polikhov said his country was trying to help stranded Indian nationals amid “heavy fighting and shelling”.
Polikhov said while he understood Indians were desperate to return to their country, Ukraine was also dealing with mass movement across its borders as people were trying to flee the conflict.
Polikhov told News18 that there was heavy fighting and shelling on military sites in Ukraine. “Heavy fighting is still continuing along with shelling of military sites and residential compounds. There are mounting casualties on all sides, including civilians and children,” he said.
The Ukrainian envoy said if missiles or bombs were hitting residential areas, one could understand the nature of what might happen in the aftermath. He added that besides Indian citizens there were one lakh refugees as well as his country’s own citizens who were fleeing the war, including elderly people and children.
“The Ukrainian side is trying to help Indian citizens to be evacuated, but there are one lakh refugees already. People are fleeing the war, not only Indian students but elderly people, children and women are also fleeing the zone of conflict,” Polikhov said.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine is still operating and helping stranded Indian citizens cross over to Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, where Indian embassies are helping them board evacuation flights.
Air India’s first evacuation flight has already departed from Romanian capital Bucharest and will reach Mumbai with 219 Indian nationals. The airline’s two more evacuation flights — one for Bucharest and one for Hungarian capital Budapest — have also departed from Delhi.
Indian nationals who reached the Ukraine-Romania border and Ukraine-Hungary border by road have been taken to Bucharest and Budapest, respectively, by Indian government officials so that they can be evacuated in these flights. The first evacuation flight is expected to land in Mumbai around 9 pm.
The second evacuation flight AI1942 and third evacuation flight AI1940 are expected to return from Bucharest and Budapest, respectively, to Delhi airport on Sunday morning. External affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Twitter that AI1944 flight with “219 Indian nationals has taken off from Romania”.
“Regarding evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine, we are making progress. Our teams are working on the ground round the clock. I am personally monitoring,” he added. The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since February 24 morning and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest.
Close to 16,000 Indians, mainly students, were stranded in Ukraine, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on February 24. Prior to the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had operated a flight to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on February 22 that brought 240 people back to India.
It had planned to operate two more flights on February 24 and February 26 but could not as the Russian offensive began on February 24 and the Ukrainian airspace was consequently shut down.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Friday said it is working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary. “At present, teams are getting in place at the following check points: Chop-Zahony Hungarian border near Uzhhorod, Porubne-Siret Romanian border near Chernivtsi,” it said.
Indian nationals, especially students, living closest to these border checkpoints are advised to depart in an organised manner in coordination with teams from the MEA to actualise this option, the embassy said. Once the above-mentioned routes are operational, the Indian nationals travelling on their own would be advised to proceed to the border checkpoints, it noted.
The embassy advised Indian travellers to carry their passports, cash (preferably in US dollars), other essential items and Covid-19 vaccination certificates to the border checkpoints. “Print out Indian flag and paste prominently on vehicles and buses while travelling,” it said.
Earlier in the day, while speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed deep concern for the safety and security of stranded Indians. He sought facilitation by Ukrainian authorities to expeditiously and safely evacuate Indian citizens, the prime minister’s office said.
(With PTI inputs)
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