New Delhi: Air-India flight to Ukraine from India has been forced to return as Ukraine has closed its airspace due to the Russian invasion. An Air India flight scheduled to evacuate Indians stranded in crisis-hit Ukraine – was forced to return to Delhi this morning after the eastern European country closed its airspace.
The Indian government’s immediate priority is to evacuate these people, but the closure of Ukrainian airspace makes this a challenging proposition.
Over 20,000 Indian citizens – several of whom are medical students – were in Ukraine as the crisis with Russia escalated rapidly over the past week, leading to concerns over their safety.
That was the first of four scheduled flights, with the others set for February 24 and February 26. Four more – were scheduled – between February 25 and March 6. It is unclear if these flights will be allowed to operate as scheduled.
Russian President Vladimir Putin this morning allowed Russian special forces to operate in two separatist areas in Ukraine, which Russia on Monday recognized as independent nations.
With large-scale military operations unfolding in eastern Ukraine, commercial flights would be at very high risk due to the chaotic nature of the airspace, which would likely be crowded with military anti-aircraft activity.
(_Vinayak)