Have been able to move out all Indian students from Ukraine's Sumy: MEA

After New Delhi’s hectic diplomatic engagements with Moscow and Kyiv, India on Tuesday managed to evacuate all its citizens stranded in Sumy in war-torn eastern Ukraine and started preparations to fly them home from airports in other neighbouring East European countries.

Nearly 700 Indians – mostly students – left Sumy and travelled nearly 175 kilometres in a convoy of buses to reach Poltava, which has not been affected by the war between Russian and Ukrainian armies. They will have a brief stopover in Poltava before travelling by trains to western borders of Ukraine and crossing over to any of the neighbouring countries where they would fly back home from – onboard aircraft arranged by the Government of India.

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“Happy to inform that we have been able to move out all Indian students from Sumy. They are currently en route to Poltava, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine,” Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), tweeted in the evening. “Flights under #OperationGanga are being prepared to bring them home,” he added.

The officials of the Embassy of India in Kyiv and the Red Cross in Ukraine accompanied the evacuees from Sumy to Poltava.

India could bring its citizens out of the war zone after Russia and Ukraine agreed on a ceasefire since 10:00 am (Ukraine Time) on Tuesday to facilitate the creation of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians, including the foreign citizens.

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The Russian Armed Forces had on Monday announced a ceasefire and opening of humanitarian corridors from Kyiv, Kharkov, Sumy and Mariupol in Ukraine. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian Government had later on the day alleged that the Russian Armed Forces had continued bombardments and missile attacks and sabotaged the opening of the humanitarian corridors for evacuation of the civilians, including the foreigners, from the war zones in the East European nation.

India had to abort an attempt to evacuate its citizens from Sumy on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi then called up both Russian and Ukrainian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and conveyed his concern for the safety and security of the Indian students still remaining in the conflict zones. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla followed it up with calls to his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts and both sides finally agreed that a fresh attempt to hold the ceasefire and create the humanitarian corridors would be made on Tuesday.

Also Read | 694 Indian students were in Sumy last night, all have left for Poltava in buses: Puri

The diplomats of India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations offices in Geneva also got in touch with headquarters of the International Committee of Red Cross, which instructed its representatives in eastern Ukraine to help evacuate the Indians and other foreign nationals from Sumy.

Nearly 700 Indians – mostly students – remained stranded in Sumy ever since Russia launched its special military operations in Ukraine on February 24. They have been posting videos on social media, narrating their ordeal amid scarcity and depleting stocks of water, food and other essentials. They have been urging the Government of India to make arrangements for their evacuation from the conflict zone.

They and their parents back in India heaved a sigh of relief after they were evacuated on Tuesday.

Though India evacuated a large number of citizens from western Ukraine, it found it difficult to rescue the ones stranded in the war zones of Kharkiv and Sumy and other areas in the eastern region of the country. A student from Haveri in Karnataka was also killed in Kharkiv due to shelling. Finally, all Indians from Kharkiv was evacuated last week.

"The Humanitarian Corridor for evacuation of stranded people has been announced in various parts of Ukraine from 1000 hours (Ukraine Time) on 8 March 2022," the Embassy of India in Kyiv stated in an advisory issued on Tuesday. It added that considering the security situation, the establishment of the next humanitarian corridor is uncertain. "All stranded Indian nationals are urged to make use of this opportunity and evacuate using trains/vehicles or any other available means of transport giving due consideration to safety," it stated.

India so far brought back home nearly 18000 of its citizens from Ukraine onboard special flights from February 22, the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated on Tuesday.

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