Challenge for Evacuation: Embassy Asks Students Stuck in Sumy to Reach Budapest

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, March 6: Even as on the home pitch the prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday boasted of “successful evacuation operation” from Ukraine, the ground reality was different. More than a thousand Indian students remained stuck in Sumy as they were unable to use the eastern exit routes to Russia because of continuous shelling.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Sunday said it was beginning its “last leg” of Operation Ganga – its evacuation mission for Indians stranded in Ukraine – and asked students who are staying in their own accommodations to reach the Hungaria City Center in the Hungarian capital Budapest between 10 am and noon.

“Important Announcement: Embassy of India begins its last leg of Operation Ganga flights today. All those students staying in their OWN accommodation (other than arranged by Embassy) are requested to reach @Hungariacitycentre , Rakoczi Ut 90, Budapest between 10 am-12 pm,” it said.

In an earlier tweet, the embassy had requested its nationals who are still stranded in conflict-stricken Ukraine to fill up a form mentioning basic details. The embassy’s official Twitter account posted a Google form asking for basic details like name, passport number and current location. “All Indian nationals who still remain in Ukraine are requested to fill up the details contained in the attached Google Form on an URGENT BASIS. Be Safe Be Strong,” it said in a Tweet.

Even as the government had admitted on Saturday that hundreds of Indian students had remained stranded in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine adding that arranging buses to evacuate them was proving to be the biggest challenge right now, Modi at a function in Pune on Sunday claimed that his government had “successfully managed Covid and now the situation in Ukraine; we have evacuated our people safely … Even big countries are facing difficulty in doing so, but it’s India’s increasing resilience that thousands of students have been evacuated.”

Modi, who had on Saturday chaired a meeting in Delhi to discuss the ongoing evacuation drive of Indian nationals and the situation in conflict-hit Ukraine, also claimed that India’s ability to evacuate citizens from war-hit Ukraine “was a sign of the country’s growing influence in the global arena. He also likened the “success” of ‘Operation Ganga’ to the government’s handling of the coronavirus situation. “It is due to India’s growing influence that it has brought thousands of students from the war zone of Ukraine back to their motherland,” he said.

However, the opposition has raised questions about the campaign that has relied largely on students finding their way to neighbouring countries on their own under extremely adverse conditions before being airlifted to India. The Indian embassy’s instructions to the stranded students to “manage to reach Budapest” was in keeping in line with the opposition criticism of the government’s handling of the situation in Ukraine.

Amid the escalating crisis, the Indian government under Operation Ganga have flown back around 13,300 people to India from Ukraine so far by 63 special flights. The Ministry of External Affairs said 15 flights have landed in the last 24 hours carrying around 2,900 on board.

In a daily briefing, the MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “15 flights have landed in the last 24 hours with around 2,900 onboard. Approximately 13,300 people returned to India so far by 63 flights under Operation Ganga. 13 flights scheduled for the next 24 hours.” He noted that over 21,000 people have left Ukraine.

Speaking at the special briefing on Operation Ganga, Bagchi said, “From Pisochyn and Kharkiv, we should be able to clear out everyone in the next few hours, so far I know almost all Indians have left Kharkiv. The main focus is on Sumy now, the challenge remains ongoing violence and lack of transportation and the best option would be a ceasefire.”

Ten days into the war in Ukraine and the main and immediate challenge for India remained to get the hapless Indian students stuck in Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine out of the conflict zone. It is estimated that about 700 Indians, mostly students, are stranded there.

Russia and Ukraine announced a ceasefire on Saturday — they called it a “regime of silence” — and humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the cities of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, and Volnovakha to its north in the Donetsk oblast of Ukraine.

The Russian embassy in New Delhi said that starting 10 am Moscow time (noon in India), the Russian forces had declared a “regime of silence” and opened humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha. However, Ukraine soon said the Russians had violated the agreement and that the ongoing shelling made it “impossible to open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians.”

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, “Violating the agreements reached, Russia continues to launch missile and bomb strikes on Mariupol, Volnovakha and other Ukrainian cities. The ongoing shelling makes it impossible to open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians, the delivery of medicines, and food.

Indians stranded in eastern Ukraine were unable to use these exit routes. Some Indians were only able to move towards Ukraine’s western border, hundreds of kilometres away — and not the eastern border with Russia.

Earlier, the MEA spokesperson had said, “In nearby Pisochyn, as of a few hours ago, there were less than 289 students who were to be evacuated. We hope to complete that task by today. Three buses have already left with students from there. In five buses, we will be able to get the rest. We should be able to clear out everyone in a few hours.”

The Indian government asked students in Sumy to stay put, and has called for a ceasefire in the area so that they can be evacuated. The MEA has said the “main challenge” is that shelling is continuing, and transportation options are limited.

“We are deeply concerned about Indian students in Sumy, Ukraine. Have strongly pressed Russian and Ukrainian governments through multiple channels for an immediate ceasefire to create a safe corridor for our students. Have advised our students to take safety precautions, stay inside shelters and avoid unnecessary risks. The Ministry and our Embassies are in regular touch with the students,” Bagchi said.

“The main focus is now on Sumy, which is on the north-east border with Russia. We are exploring multiple options for evacuating students out of there. But the main challenge remains the ongoing shelling there, violence and the lack of transportation options. I think even more than transportation, it is about having a secure and safe way to get them out while they are not under threat. We are in touch with all concerned regarding possible movement,” he said.

On the evacuation of students in Sumy, Bagchi said, “There are clearly two or more options. It can go east or west. We are not choosing one over the other. It all depends on what is the transportation option, logistics arrangements that can be organised. At this point, unfortunately we don’t have many of those options because our primary requirement is having a safe route where our children are not at risk when they leave their campuses.

“The good thing about Sumy is that they are concentrated. They are together in one or two locations. It will be easier to pick them up but still we have around 700 of them. Our primary option is to evacuate them safely. If the east makes it easier, okay. In terms of distance, the east is probably the closest but in terms of having two frontlines, the west will be faster if there is a ceasefire because there will be only one frontline to cross. We have teams on the ground, they will decide,” the MEA spokesperson said.