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

As war rages on in Ukraine India on Thursday bolstered efforts to evacuate its citizens from the strifetorn country with four IAF aircraft bringing back 798 people and more than 7400 Indians expected to return home to safety over the next two days officials saidAn 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 Ukraines battlescarred Kharkiv and Sumy cities to its Belgorod regionThe Ministry of External Affairs MEA meanwhile said evacuation efforts from Ukraine have gathered pace with about 1000 Indians having left Kharkiv for nearby Pisochyn pursuant to its advisory a day agoMEA 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 militaryA 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 suppliesWe 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 1000 he saidWe are currently looking at transportation options to move them from there to western Ukraine or southern Ukraine depending on the transportation options Bagchi saidIn a glimmer of hope for Indians trapped in Ukraines bleak landscape withcrumbling 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 bordersThe remarks by Russian National Defence Control Center head ColonelGeneral Mikhail Mizintsev came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the safe evacuation of IndiansApproximately 8000 Indians mainly students are stranded in Ukraine Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on TuesdayA 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 statesiquest ColonelGeneral Mizintsev was quoted as saying by the stateowned TASS news agencyMizintsev said that places for temporary accommodation and rest have been set up at the checkpointsThe evacuees will be then transported to the city of Belgorod for subsequent departure to their homeland by air including via Russian military airplanesiquest the General saidDuring 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 saidPutin 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 homeiquest it saidIn 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 Russiaiquest the Kremlin said on WednesdayOn 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 UkraineBagchi said 18 flights have been scheduled for next 24 hours to bring back Indian nationals from UkraineA total of about 18000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since our first advisory was released he saidIndia has been evacuating its citizens by special flights from Ukraines 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 UkraineMeanwhile the Civil Aviation Ministry said more than 7400 Indians are expected to be brought back home from Ukraines neighbouring countries on special flights over the next two daysIndian 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 saidThe number of civilian flights is being scaled up further and more than 7400 people are expected to be brought through special flights in next two days it said adding 3500 people are expected to be brought back on Friday and over 3900 on SaturdayThe ministry said India has so far brought back 6998 people on special flights including those operated by the Indian Air Force IAF since February 22It noted that 13 evacuation flights 10 by Indian carriers and three by the IAF were scheduled to return to India on ThursdayFour Union ministers are in countries neighbouring Ukraine to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationalsHardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia and V K Singh in PolandEarlier in the day four C17 Indian Air Force transport aircraft brought back 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest Hungarys Budapest and Polish city RzeszowThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever