Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, March 4: As hundreds of stranded Indian students have thousands of stories to narrate about the ordeal they are undergoing in war-torn Ukraine, the Centre on Friday said efforts were “underway” to evacuate Indian nationals from Kharkiv and Sumy in eastern Ukraine bordering with Russia.
“We are paying the highest attention on eastern Ukraine, especially Kharkiv and Pisochin. We have managed to get some buses there and five of them are operational,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. “More buses will be operational later this evening. “We had requested #Ukraine authorities for special trains but haven’t heard anything yet,” Bagchi said.
At least 1,000 Indians – 700 in Sumy and 300 in Kharkiv – are still stranded in conflict zones in eastern Ukraine, the government said adding that arranging buses to evacuate them was proving to be the biggest challenge right now.
“We will continue Operation Ganga till the last person gets evacuated. Roughly 2,000-3,000 (more Indians) are likely to be there (in Ukraine), the number can vary,” Bagchi said at a briefing. “Our primary focus is to get Indian students out of conflict zones in eastern Ukraine. We are urging both sides (Russia and Ukraine) to find ways so that we can take out our citizens. A local ceasefire would help,” he added.
The Indian Air Force has already put some IL-76 planes on standby to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Kharkiv and Sumy from Moscow. According to South Block officials, two IL-76 aircraft are on standby to fly out to Moscow as soon as the Indian nationals are taken to the Russian capital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday had spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin and then with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and discussed the evacuation of Indian nationals from the warzones in Ukraine. External affairs minister S Jaishankar also spoke to his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.
The Indian medical students stranded at the Sumy State University issued a desperate plea for help earlier in the day, saying they were 800-900 students trapped in their hostels without much food or water while there was gunfire, shelling and freezing temperature outside.
“We have been expecting the government to help, but we have got no information. Some are saying buses are waiting at the Russian border, which is about 50 km from here. If we walk from the hostel, there are snipers in all four directions, everywhere. We fear airstrikes. Bombardment is happening every 20 minutes,” they said in a video posted on social media.
“We request Narendra Modi ji, please take us out of here, or else we will be killed. If we walk out from here on our own, we will be killed. We request the government of India, please help us,” they said. “There is no food, no water. No water in the toilets. Many haven’t had water to drink since last night. We are very worried,” they added. Some of the desperate students are also learnt to have ventured out in the open ignoring shelling to collect some snow to quench thirst in the absence of even a pinch of water.
The Indian embassy last week warned of intense fighting in Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv. Reports say trains and buses have stopped running in Sumy, roads and bridges out of the city have been destroyed, and there is heavy street fighting. Bagchi said around 20,000 Indians have left Ukraine’s borders since India issued its first travel advisories in mid-February.
He said 15 flights landed in India as part of the evacuation mission during the last 24 hours, bringing back more than 3,000 nationals. The spokesperson said 16 flights are scheduled for the next 24 hours.
At least 10,800 Indians have been brought back by special flights from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries under Operation Ganga, the Centre said. The evacuation process was carried out by three Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft and 14 civilian flights, with one more civilian flight expected to arrive later on Friday.
According to the government, the C-17 aircraft carried 630 passengers, while the civilian flights evacuated 9,364 Indian nationals. A total of seven IAF flights have brought back 1,428 Indian nationals and delivered 9.7 tonnes of relief material to Ukraine.
On Friday, the civilian flights included 4 from Bucharest (Romania), 2 from Kosice (Slovakia), 4 from Budapest (Hungary), and 3 from Rzeszow (Poland). The IAF flew 2 flights from Bucharest and 1 from Budapest.
On Saturday, 11 special civilian flights are expected to bring back more than 2200 Indians, with 10 landing in New Delhi and one in Mumbai. Five flights will originate from Budapest, two from Rzeszow and four from Suceava. Four C-17 aircraft are airborne for Romania, Poland and Slovakia, which are expected to reach late at night and early morning on Sunday.
