Kyiv: Embassy of India on Monday informed that the weekend curfew has been lifted in Kyiv. The Embassy advised students to move towards the railway station and added that the Ukraine Railways is putting special trains for evacuations.
“Weekend curfew lifted in Kyiv. All students are advised to make their way to the railway station for an onward journey to the western parts. Ukraine Railways is putting special trains for evacuations”.
Weekend curfew lifted in Kyiv. All students are advised to make their way to the railway station for onward journey to the western parts.
Ukraine Railways is putting special trains for evacuations.— India in Ukraine (@IndiainUkraine) February 28, 2022
On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that the government of India has launched a multi-prong evacuation plan titled ‘Operation Ganga’ to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine. The Centre has also set up a dedicated Twitter handle “OpGanga Helpline” to assist in the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine under Operation Ganga. The India Government is bearing the cost of evacuation given the emergency situation prevailing.
The Twitter account lists helpline numbers in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic – all nations which share border with Ukraine. The MEA had deployed teams, Russian-speaking officers to go there and assist in the evacuation process. The border crossing to Hungary and Romania are functioning, however, the exit point to Poland has been clogged as lakhs of Ukrainian and foreign nationals are trying to leave the country from that point.
24×7 Control Centres set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals through the border crossing points with Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovak Republic⬇️https://t.co/uMI1Wu5Jwd#OperationGanga pic.twitter.com/UXF1NVBFcr
— OpGanga Helpline (@opganga) February 27, 2022
Meanwhile, on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be reportedly sending four union ministers to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate evacuations of stranded Indians amid ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine.
The four ministers that are most likely to go to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries are–Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and Gen (Retd) VK Singh. These Ministers will be going as special envoys of India.
PM Modi also held a second high-level meeting over the prevailing situation in Ukraine, especially with the evacuation of Indian citizens.
PM Modi held a two-hour-long meeting with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, and a host of senior bureaucrats over the prevailing situation in Ukraine.
India has started a special flight operation by Air India under ‘Operation Ganga’ to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine. So far, five flights have brought back hundreds of Indians to Delhi and Mumbai.