New Delhi, 1 March
Three evacuation flights from Romanian capital Bucharest and Hungarian capital Budapest arrived in India on Tuesday carrying 616 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine due to Russian military offensive, officials said.
On Tuesday, two flights were operated by IndiGo, while one service was operated by Tata Group-owned Air India Express.
India began evacuating its citizens from Ukraine’s western neighbors such as Romania and Hungary on 26 February. Private Indian carriers have so far brought back 2,012 Indian nationals in nine special flights.
Air India Express operated a Bucharest-Mumbai flight via Kuwait with 182 Indian nationals.
IndiGo operated a Budapest-Delhi flight via Istanbul with 216 Indian nationals.
India’s largest carrier also operated a Bucharest-Delhi service via Istanbul with 218 Indian nationals.
Meanwhile, IndiGo sent four planes, two to Budapest and two to Rzeszów, Poland, to evacuate the Indians. SpiceJet on Tuesday also sent an aircraft to Kosice, Slovakia for evacuation.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on February 27 that around 13,000 Indians, mainly college students, are currently stranded in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since February 24, when the Russian government launched a military operation against the country.
In the first Indian casualty in the war in Ukraine, a student from Karnataka was killed in a gunfight in the city of Kharkiv on Tuesday morning.
The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed the Indian’s death in a tweet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to Russian military strikes against that country, sources said on Tuesday.
Indians are traveling by road to Ukraine’s borders with Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland etc., from where they are being taken to airports for evacuation flights by Indian government officials.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine has advised all Indian nationals, including students, on Twitter to leave Kyiv immediately on Tuesday, preferably by available trains or by any other available means.