Sumi, First Published Mar 5, 2022, 7:00 PM IST
Delhi / Harkiv: The Ministry of External Affairs is concerned that the temporary ceasefire in Ukraine may have any effect on the evacuation of Indian students. A ceasefire has not yet been declared in the regions of eastern Ukraine. This is where a lot of Indian students are. Efforts to declare a ceasefire here are ongoing, the foreign ministry said.
At the same time, Indian students have decided to walk in the bitter cold, with no guarantee of getting vehicles from Sumi (Ukraine), where the attack took place. Students at Sumi State University also took to the streets to protest the government’s delay in evacuation. Students say they receive no information from embassies and are walking to the border.
At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is telling children that it is an attempt to prepare a safe passage and not to travel unnecessarily. But the indefinite evacuation is of great concern to parents in the country and children waiting for the embassy’s help at the risk of their lives.
Drinking water to melt the ice cubes
Meanwhile, the plight of students stranded in eastern Ukraine continues. Students in Sumi find drinking water by melting ice.
Student responses can be found at:
Meanwhile, an agreement has been reached to begin the evacuation process from an airport in Romania. The airport is located about 50 km from the Romanian border. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that students will no longer have to travel to Bucharest for flights and will be able to return home from the nearest airport.
Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Ukraine began intervening to evacuate 298 people stranded in Python. The embassy informed that the bus for them had left.
3000 people reached India in 24 hours
About 3,000 students from Ukraine arrived in India in the last 24 hours through Operation Ganga. The number of returnees has now crossed 13,000. The students, who had returned from Harki, told Asianet News that they had not received any help from the Indian embassy until they had crossed the border into Ukraine.
Sixteen passenger planes have been in service for the last 24 hours for students stranded on the battlefield. Through this, about 3,000 students were brought to India.
In 24 hours, 629 people were flown to India by three air force planes. In ten days, 2,056 people were flown in from Ukraine by air. With so many students arriving in countries like Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, so many flights will be operated tomorrow as well.
India has so far sent 16 tonnes of relief supplies by air to pick up students. Some of the students who were in Harkiv at the time of the attack returned to India today. The students said they were left in the bunker in Harkiv without even food and water.
The state government still operates chartered flights for students arriving in Delhi. The first flight with 180 students took off at 12 noon. The next two flights will reach Kochi in the evening and at night.
Last Updated Mar 5, 2022, 7:21 PM IST