The Ministry of External Affairs runs a 24X7 control room to assist the stranded Indians.
The Ministry of External Affairs runs a 24X7 control room to assist the stranded Indians.
with Russia announces military operations on UkraineAnd as the country is closing its airspace, India is looking for alternative routes to evacuate its citizens from the conflict zone.
External Affairs Ministry officials told The Hindu on Thursday that India is sending Russian-speaking officials to the embassy in Kiev as well as to neighboring Ukraine to help create alternative evacuation routes for Indians in Ukraine.
In view of the rapidly changing situation in Ukraine, the Ministry held a series of high level meetings to implement some contingency plans.
Officials said the Indian embassy in Ukraine is functioning and its advice should be followed carefully.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine said that alternative arrangements are being made to evacuate the Indians since the Ukrainian airspace has been closed.
The helpline numbers of the Embassy of India in Kiev are: +38 0997300483/428, +38 0933980327, +38 0635917881, +38 0935046170
“We are still in Kiev and were woken up 15 minutes ago by a loud explosion from the Boryspil airport side,” Barun Verma, an Indian student in the city, said via a message on social media.
India’s embassy in Kiev had earlier issued two advisories urging “non-essential” Indian residents and students in Ukraine’s various universities and medical colleges to leave. However, many students could not leave immediately as international airlines hiked ticket prices. Air India conducted its first “special ferry flight” to Kiev on 22 February to airlift Indian nationals from Ukraine. Similar flights are unlikely to happen now. “We won’t be able to go now,” said Panamana Anandu of Sunny State University.
Mr Anandu, who hails from Kerala, said that many Indians were in Kharkiv and Odessa, which were bombed by Russian forces.
Sources here said officials were “closely monitoring” the Ukrainian crisis.
The Ministry of External Affairs has expanded the control room and made it operational on 24×7 basis.
According to estimates, there are currently over 15,000 Indians living in Ukraine and a large number of them are students.