Hope rose of evacuation of more than 700 Indians stranded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, as the Indian embassy in Ukraine said late on Sunday night that a team had reached Poltava, less than 200 km from Sumy near the Russian border to facilitate the evacuation process from the warzone. Major fighting is going on between Russian and Ukrainian forces in and around Sumy. “Team from Embassy of India is stationed in Poltava City to coordinate the safe passage of Indian students stranded in Sumy to Western borders via Poltava. Confirmed time & date will be issued soon. IN students advised to be ready to leave on short notice,” the embassy tweeted.
Ukrainian Red Cross in coordination with the Indian World Forum on Sunday provided humanitarian assistance to stranded students of all nationalities in Sumy. The students are being provided with water and essential supplies. Indian World Forum (IWF) president Puneet Singh Chandhok said Ihor Shapoval, RedCross coordinator has visited the university campus in Sumy and interacted with students coordinators and liaised for their early evacuation subject to a green corridor. IWF President also shared the images of the assistance being provided to the students on his Twitter handle. Chandhok spoke with Maksym Dotsenko Director-General of RedCross Ukraine and Ihor Shapoval who are on the ground in Sumy and said, “They visited Indian students there and coordinated with the university officials. Water is being provided now and efforts are being made by them for their early evacuation.” Moreover, he remarked that more aid will be provided as the situation eases.
Earlier the Indian embassy in Ukraine had asked all Indians still stranded in that country to fill up a Google form giving their details, even as the Indian embassy in Hungary tweeted that Operation Ganga had entered its final phase from Hungary. “Important Announcement: Embassy of India begins its last leg of Operation Ganga flights today. All those students staying in their OWN accommodation (other than arranged by Embassy) are requested to reach @Hungar
iacitycentre , Rakoczi Ut 90, Budapest ‘10 am-12 pm’ plz note”, the embassy tweeted.
A group of 44 Indians who began their journey from Pisochyn in eastern Ukraine near the border with Russia, are on their way to from Lviv, near western Ukraine’s border with Poland, while over 150 proceeded to the Romanian border.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine, in another tweet said, “Bringing our Indians back home group of 44 Indians who began their journey from Pisochyn are on their way to the Polish border from Lviv. Another group of 150+ have made their way to the Romanian border. Our efforts are ongoing. Be Safe Be Strong.”
According to information given by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, more than 15,900 Indians have been brought back since the special flights under Operation Ganga began on 22 February to rescue stranded Indian citizens in Ukraine. 2,135 Indians were brought back on Sunday by 11 special civilian flights from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. The number of Indians airlifted by 66 special civilian flights went up to 13,852, said the Ministry of Civil Aviation. To date, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has flown 10 sorties to bring back 2,056 passengers, while taking 26 tonnes of relief load to these countries, as part of Operation Ganga, the ministry added.
Among the special civilian flights on Sunday, 9 landed in New Delhi while 2 reached Mumbai. There were 6 flights from Budapest, 2 from Bucharest, 2 from Rzeszow, and 1 from Kosice.
On Monday, 8 special flights are expected to operate from Budapest (5), Suceava (2) and Bucharest (1), bringing in more than 1,500 Indians back home.
Meanwhile, referring to India’s stand at the international forums on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, German Ambassador to India, Walter J. Lindner on Sunday said that India has excellent diplomatic service and seeing the global world order their diplomats know what to do regarding India’s stand on the issue of Ukraine.
The German envoy said, “India has excellent diplomatic service, they know what to do… It’s not about Ukraine or the EU or NATO… it is about the global world order…We all have to stand together against it,” said Lindner on how European Union sees India’s role in the global matter.
India and 34 other countries on Wednesday abstained from a UN General Assembly resolution that censured Russia over its military actions against Ukraine. India had earlier abstained from the UN Security Council procedural vote to call for a United Nations General Assembly session on the Ukraine crisis.