After a difficult two weeks, Indian students who were stranded in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy have finally started moving towards Poltava in the central part of the country. From there, they will be taken by train to Ukraine’s western border.
The last major group of Indians to be evacuated from Sumy will be flown home from a neighboring country in the next few days.
In another advisory on Tuesday, the government urged stranded Indians in Ukraine to use the humanitarian corridors, as the timing of the next corridor announcement is uncertain.
The evacuation from Sumy, announced by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, was a challenging operation due to the volatile situation near the Russian border. It came one day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and sought their support for the safe and quick evacuation of Indians from Sumy.
The return of students from Sumy, which is located 350 km east of Kyiv and 180 km northwest of Kharkiv, will be a highlight of Operation Ganga, the government’s effort to bring home Indians stranded in Ukraine following the Russian invasion on February 24. So far, 83 flights have brought back over 17,100 Indians.
In New Delhi, Puri announced that the evacuation of 694 Indian students stuck in Sumy had begun. “Last night, I checked with the control room, 694 Indian students were remaining in Sumy. Today, they have all left in buses for Poltava,” he said.
Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “Happy to inform you 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. Flights under Operation Ganga are being prepared to bring them home.”
The Indian embassy in Ukraine posted a message on Twitter: “The humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of stranded people has been announced in various parts of Ukraine from 1000 hrs on March 8. 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 or vehicles or any other available means of transport, giving due consideration to safety.”
