Every Indian in Ukraine will return home, says Indian envoy in Ukraine

KYIV: The Indian government will evacuate all Indian nationals from Ukraine, India's Ambassador said here on Friday as he assured Indian students holed up in this country, a day after Russia launched a massive military operation against it. Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Partha Satpathy also urged the students taking refuge in temporary shelters to be “realistic about the situation and convey to friends and families that everything would just be fine.”

With Russia announcing a military operation in Ukraine, thousands of Indian students enrolled in Ukrainian higher education institutions — mostly studying medicine — are in a state of panic and pleading with authorities to ensure their safe return to India. “The government of India is completely seized with the matter. Every Indian will go back home. Planes are being lined up. Personnel is being lined up, but it’s a warzone. We will have to work out the logistics and find the modalities to reach the West,” Satpathy said while speaking to students who were holed up here. “We have to be realistic about the situation. So, convey to your friends wherever they are in Ukraine that things will be fine,” he was seen telling anxious Indian nationals in a video shared by a student. The Indian government is making all possible efforts to evacuate Indians from Ukraine through its land border crossings with its neighbouring countries, Satpathy said.

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Government officials said Air India is also planning to operate two flights to the Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday to evacuate some of the Indians. “After coordinating with our embassies in the neighbouring countries, the Ministry of External Affairs and the government of India, the movement of vehicles has started. Through Romania, we will send our first batch of students,” he explained. In an advisory, the embassy said Indian teams are being deputed at the Chop-Zahony check post on the Hungarian border as well as at Porubne-Stret on the Romanian border around Chernivtsi in Uzhhorod.

"In this difficult situation, the embassy of India requests Indians to continue to remain strong, safe and alert. The embassy is also working round the clock to support the Indian community in Ukraine," it said. "The government of India and the embassy are working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary," it added.

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Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday that there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days. “My primary objective is to get you back to your parents, so that they feel relaxed and I don’t keep getting phone calls. But all of you have to be cooperative and be realistic of the current situation,” Satpathy added.