On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla stated that 8,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine.
Digital Desk: A top Russian military general said on Thursday that Russia is ready to send 130 buses to transfer stranded Indian students and other foreigners from war-torn Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Sumy cities to Russia’s Belgorod Region. Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of Russia’s National Defense Control Center, made the statements a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the safe evacuation of Indians from Ukraine’s combat zones.
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla stated that 8,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine.
Colonel-General Mizintsev said to state-owned TASS news agency, “A total of 130 comfortable buses have been ready to depart for Kharkov (Kharkiv) and Sumy from the Nekhoteyevka and Sudzha checkpoints in the Belgorod Region since 6 a.m. today to rescue Indian students and citizens of other foreign states.”
“At the checkpoints, temporary lodging and rest areas have been set up. The refugees will be fed hot meals, and mobile clinics with a stockpile of medicine will be put up,” he added.
“The evacuees will subsequently be taken to Belgorod, where they will be flown back to their hometown by air, including Russian military jets,” said Mizintsev.
According to the Kremlin, President Putin informed Prime Minister Modi during their telephone chat on Wednesday that Russia is doing all possible to help Indian nationals leave Ukraine securely.
“President Putin emphasized that all required instructions have been provided, and Russian service members are doing all possible to secure the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the conflict zone and their return home,” the statement stated.
“Russia is doing all possible to organize the rapid evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkiv via a humanitarian corridor by shortest path to Russia,” Kremlin said on Wednesday.
“The leaders agreed to maintain close engagement to offer security for Indian citizens in Ukraine,” the Russian presidential press service said.
India has been efficiently working with nations in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova, for the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine, according to External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
Because Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since February 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a special military campaign in Ukraine, India has been evacuating its citizens via special aircraft from Ukraine’s western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary, and Poland.
Following the death of an Indian student in shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday, India requested that Russia assist in the safe passage of Indians from various conflict zones.
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