Two days into Russia’s assault on Ukraine and as explosions rocked the capital city of Kyiv, India rushed to safely evacuate its citizens from multiple regions of Ukraine.
About 4,000 Indians have already been evacuated from Ukraine in repatriation efforts since January. The Centre is now putting into action a host of arrangements to bring back the remaining 16,000 citizens, most of whom are students.
Social media have been inundated with pleas from Indian citizens, especially students pursuing higher education in Ukrainian institutes, asking for their safe return to the country.
The task of evacuating Indians became a more challenging one after Ukraine closed its airspace due to the “high risk of aviation safety” amid Russia's intensifying military operation, followed by Russia imposing restrictions on civilian air traffic over northeastern Ukraine.
On the morning of February 24, Thursday, an Air India repatriation flight heading to Kyiv from Delhi’ Indira Gandhi International Airport to bring back about 250 Indian nationals was forced to turn back as the airspace over Ukraine closed.
Just hours before the closure of the airspace, a special flight of Ukraine International Airlines landed in Delhi with 182 Indians on board. On Tuesday, February 22, an Air India flight brought back 242 Indians, mostly students, to Delhi.
What has been done so far?
Land Routes: In a series of late-night tweets on Thursday, Union Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar said that the governments of Ukraine’s neighbors Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland had agreed to help evacuate Indian citizens utilising their respective land routes. The four countries share Ukraine’s western border, while Russian military forces are advancing operations from the eastern borders.
Before that, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted out contact information for teams that Indian nationals near the border points with these countries could reach out to, adding that MEA teams from Indian Embassies in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland were on their way to their respective borders with Ukraine.
The teams would be deployed at Romania’s Suceava border, Hungary’s Zahony border post, opposite Uzhhorod in Ukraine, Poland’s Krakowiec land border with Ukraine and Slovakia’s Vysne Nemecke border.
Besides evacuation efforts by land, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Indian Airforce aircraft could be pressed into service for evacuation measures.
Helplines: The Ministry of External Affairs on February 24 expanded its dedicated control room to be operational on a 24-hour basis to provide information and assistance to Indian nationals, and released helpline numbers and email contacts.
Besides the Centre’s control room, States have also announced dedicated helplines and measures to aid the evacuation process.
The Tamil Nadu government has said that it has set up 24x7 help desks and was receiving hundreds of distress calls from parents of students stranded in Ukraine. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote to the MEA, urging that about 5,000 students from Tamil Nadu and other emigrants stranded in Ukraine be evacuated on an immediate basis. The CM also said that his government would bear all the expenses to bring back those from the State stuck in Ukraine.
The State government has also appointed a Nodal Officer to facilitate evacuation of stranded Tamils in Ukraine to coordinate with the Government of India, their families, and district administrations.
The Telangana government also set up an assistance helpline and appointed an official to coordinate evacuation efforts.
The Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority set up a web portal to collect information about those from Karnataka stranded in Ukraine. It also set up a 24-hour control room to attend distress calls.
As per information collected on the portal and through phone calls, the State said on February 25 that 91 persons from 22 districts in Karnataka were stranded in Ukraine.
The Mumbai Collectorate also issued a special phone number and email to assist residents of Mumbai stuck in Ukraine.
Advisories: The Indian Embassy in Kyiv has been issuing multiple advisories on social media about the course of action Indian citizens should take to secure immediate safety.
Early on February 24, the Indian Embassy issued its preliminary advisory to Indians in Ukraine to “maintain calm and stay safe,” in their respective accommodations, amid the “highly uncertain” situation in the country.
This was followed by another advisory informing Indian nationals/students that the air evacuation plans were cancelled in the wake of the airspace closure, but the Embassy was making alternative arrangements to relocate Indians to the western parts of Ukraine. Indian nationals were asked to carry their passports and necessary documents at all times. The Embassy also provided a set of helpline numbers that could be reached out for assistance.
A third advisory was issued, conveying that the imposition of martial law in Ukraine had made movement difficult and the Embassy had asked universities to accommodate stranded Indian students in their establishments. The Embassy also asked those in areas hearing air sirens or bomb warnings, to search for the nearest bomb shelters on Google Maps and take refuge.
Later in the day, the Indian Ambassador to Ukraine, Partha Satpathy, put out a video message to Indian nationals asking them to face the situation with “fortitude”, as not only was the airspace closed but railway schedules were “in a flux” and roads were packed. He advised Indians to stay in their familiar locations and those travelling to return to their familiar habitations.
“Those who are stranded here in Kyiv, please get in touch with your friends and colleagues in Kyiv, universities and other community members, so that you can temporarily lodge there,” he added.
Mr. Satpathy also advised those travelling to Kyiv, including those travellling from western parts of the capital, to temporarily return to their respective cities, “especially towards safer places along the western bordering countries”.
The Embassy also informed that 200 stranded students in Kyiv had been safely accommodated in a facility near the Embassy.
