Russia invades Ukraine: India ramps up evacuation, Russia promises help

Indian nationals from Ukraine arrive at the Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad, on Thursday. Pic/ Pallav Paliwal

As war rages on in Ukraine, India on Thursday bolstered efforts to evacuate its citizens from the strife-torn country, with four IAF aircraft bringing back 798 people and more than 7,400 Indians expected to return home to safety over the next two days, officials said.

An implacable Russia, which is pressing ahead with its bombardment of key Ukrainian cities, while rejecting calls by the international community for cessation of hostilities, bared a softer side, saying it is ready to send 130 buses to evacuate stranded Indian students and other foreigners from Ukraine's battle-scarred Kharkiv and Sumy cities to its Belgorod region.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), meanwhile, said evacuation efforts from Ukraine have gathered pace, with about 1,000 Indians having left Kharkiv for nearby Pisochyn pursuant to its advisory a day ago.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing the Indian side is in touch with both Ukrainian and Russian authorities to examine the modalities of how Indians can be evacuated from Kharkiv and Sumy, where many students have taken shelter in basements of apartment buildings and bomb shelters to escape shelling and missile barrages fired by the Russian military.

A young medical student Naveen SG from Karnataka was killed in one such shelling on Tuesday when he ventured out to buy food for himself and fellow students, who cowered inside a shelter in freezing cold, running out of supplies.

"We are closely following the developments in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine. As you know yesterday we issued an advisory for Indians in Kharkiv to leave the city by 6 PM local time. Pursuant to this a large number of students have left Kharkiv and are currently in nearby Pisochyn. We estimate this number to be around 1,000," he said.

"We are currently looking at transportation options to move them from there to western Ukraine or southern Ukraine depending on the transportation options," Bagchi said.

In a glimmer of hope for Indians trapped in Ukraine's bleak landscape with

crumbling buildings and flashes of light from missiles whistling across the sky, a top Russian military general said his country was ready with 130 buses to help them exit the battle zone through its borders.

The remarks by Russian National Defence Control Center head Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the safe evacuation of Indians.

Approximately 8,000 Indians, mainly students, are stranded in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on Tuesday.

"A total of 130 comfortable buses are ready to depart to Kharkov (Kharkiv) and Sumy from the Nekhoteyevka and Sudzha checkpoints in the Belgorod Region since 6 AM today in order to Rescue Indian students and citizens of other foreign states,¿ Colonel-General Mizintsev was quoted as saying by the state-owned TASS news agency.

Mizintsev said that places for temporary accommodation and rest have been set up at the checkpoints.

"The evacuees will be then transported to the city of Belgorod for subsequent departure to their homeland by air, including via Russian military airplanes,¿ the General said.

During their telephonic conversation on Wednesday, President Putin assured Prime Minister Modi that Russia is making every effort to help Indian nationals leave Ukraine safely, the Kremlin said.

"Putin emphasised that every necessary instruction has been issued, and the Russian service members are doing their utmost to ensure the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the zone of hostilities and their return home,¿ it said.

"In particular, Russia is doing its best to organize the urgent evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkov via a humanitarian corridor by the shortest route to Russia,¿ the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi India has been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova for evacuation of Indians from Ukraine.

Bagchi said 18 flights have been scheduled for next 24 hours to bring back Indian nationals from Ukraine.

A total of about 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since our first advisory was released, he said.

India has been evacuating its citizens by special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 when Putin ordered the launch of military offensive in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Ministry said more than 7,400 Indians are expected to be brought back home from Ukraine's neighbouring countries on special flights over the next two days.

Indian carriers -- Air India Express, Air India, SpiceJet, IndiGo, Vistara and Go First -- are expected to operate a total of 17 flights on Friday, a ministry statement said.

"The number of civilian flights is being scaled up further, and more than 7,400 people are expected to be brought through special flights in next two days," it said, adding 3,500 people are expected to be brought back on Friday and over 3,900 on Saturday.

The ministry said India has so far brought back 6,998 people on special flights -- including those operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) -- since February 22.

It noted that 13 evacuation flights -- 10 by Indian carriers and three by the IAF -- were scheduled to return to India on Thursday.

Four Union ministers are in countries neighbouring Ukraine to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals.

Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania, Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia and V K Singh in Poland.

Earlier in the day, four C-17 Indian Air Force transport aircraft brought back 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow.

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