Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Even as the last-ditch diplomatic efforts are on to prevent what Western powers warn could be the imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine leading to a catastrophic European war, India on Sunday asked its citizens including students who are living in Ukraine to return if their stay in the east European nation “is not deemed essential.”
In a second advisory on Sunday, the Indian embassy in Ukraine said Indian citizens should look for any available commercial or charter flight to get out of the country amid tensions over a possible invasion by Russia. The earlier advisory asked students to leave Ukraine as soon as possible.
“In view of the continued high levels of tensions and uncertainties with respect to the situation in Ukraine, all Indian nationals whose stay is not deemed essential and all Indian students, are advised to leave Ukraine temporarily,” the Indian embassy in Ukraine tweeted. “Indian students are advised to also get in touch with respective student contractors for updates on charter flights, and also continue to follow embassy Facebook, website and Twitter for any update,” the India embassy said.
Indians in Ukraine who need information and assistance can also contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or MEA, which has set up a dedicated control room. There were reports of people not getting flight tickets earlier this week. Air India, which was recently sold to Tata group by the government, will fly three special aircraft to Ukraine on February 22, 24 and 26. The flights will operate to and from Boryspil International Airport, Ukraine’s largest airport.
A telephone conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the situation in Ukraine got underway on Sunday as planned. Russia, according to Western leaders, has more than 150,000 troops along with missile batteries and warships massed around Ukraine, poised to strike. Vladimir Putin has also stepped up his rhetoric, reiterating demands for written guarantees that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO, roll back deployments in Eastern Europe to positions from decades ago.
Earlier in the day, multiple explosions could be heard late Saturday and early Sunday in the centre of the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, media reports said. The origin of the explosions was not clear. As shelling struck towns in eastern Ukraine Saturday, and civilians boarded buses in a chaotic evacuation, Russia engaged in a dramatic display of military theatre, test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles. Vladimir Putin presided over tests of nuclear-capable missiles as part of what Russia insists are nothing more than military exercises around Ukraine and not the precursor to an invasion.
Ukraine Sunday suspended operations at one of the seven checkpoints to territory in the eastern Donbass region controlled by Russia-backed separatists, due to heavy shelling, the Ukrainian military said. Incidents of shelling across the line dividing government forces and separatists increased sharply last week, in what the Ukrainian government called a provocation.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC that the plans that the West was seeing at Ukraine’s border suggest that a Russian invasion could be “the biggest war in Europe since 1945 in terms of sheer scale”.
Almost 2,000 ceasefire violations were registered in eastern Ukraine by monitors for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Saturday, diplomatic sources said. The Ukrainian government and separatist forces have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014. An upsurge in shelling has thrust the region to the centre of tensions between Moscow and the West over a Russian military build-up near Ukraine.
The Netherlands Foreign Ministry on Sunday said it has decided to move its embassy functions in Ukraine from Kyiv to Lviv temporarily because of safety considerations. The decision follows statements by the United States saying that Russia could launch an attack on the country on any time. Many countries have moved diplomats to Lviv in the far west of Ukraine from Kyiv, with NATO moving its Ukraine staff there on Saturday. The Netherlands government last week urged Dutch citizens to leave Ukraine.
Amidst the developments, Russia and Belarus are extending military drills that were due to end on Sunday, the Belarus defence minister said, in a step that further intensifies pressure on Ukraine as Western leaders warn of an imminent Russian invasion. The Belarus minister said the decision had been taken “in connection with the increase in military activity near the external borders” of Russia and Belarus and because of rising tension in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. NATO said Russia had up to 30,000 troops in Belarus and could use them as part of an invasion force to attack Ukraine, although Moscow denies any such intention.
With a fear that a war could start within days, Germany and Austria told their citizens to leave Ukraine. German air carrier Lufthansa cancelled flights to Kyiv, and to Odesa, a Black Sea port that could be a key target in an invasion. NATO’s liaison office in Kyiv said it was relocating staff to Brussels and to Lviv, the western Ukraine city.