918 students returned from war-hit Ukraine: Andhra Pradesh govt

AMARAVATI: The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday said a total of 918 students, including a few belonging to other states, had been repatriated to the state from war-hit Ukraine. While 692 students were brought back by the government under Operation Ganga, another 226 returned home on their own, AP Special Task Force chairman M T Krishna Babu said. “Only one student said he was staying back in Ukraine while another reached his relatives house in Poland,” Krishna Babu said in a release.

Among those brought back by the AP government were six students from Telangana, two from Karnataka and one each from Kerala and Odisha. Domicile status of another 96 students was not known, he said.

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“Some students have left Ukraine after the announcement from the (Indian) Embassy before the start of the crisis. Education consultants have brought a few students back, of whom there is no data available. And, a few students, who crossed the borders into neighbouring countries, have left on their own or moved to their relatives’ homes in some other countries,” Krishna Babu added.

“We have deputed our government representatives to countries bordering Ukraine like Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia where a large number of AP-origin students crossed the international border. The representatives offered hands-on support and ensured safe evacuation of the students. Upon landing in India, the state government made all arrangements to send the students to their homes,” the Special Task Force chief said. A group of students, who returned from Ukraine, would meet Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Monday afternoon.