‘Stay where you are’: Embassy tells Indians in Ukraine

New Delhi: The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Thursday asked Indian nationals to maintain calm and remain safe wherever they are as Russia carried out military operations in Ukraine.

It said that in view of closure of Ukranian airspace for civilian aircraft, alternative arrangements are being made for evacuation of Indian nationals. It added that the embassy will convey information about it as soon as such arrangements are finalised, so that Indian nationals can relocate to the western part of the country.

“The present situation in Ukraine is highly uncertain. Please maintain calm and remain safe wherever you are, be it in your homes, hostels, accommodation or in transit,” the Indian embassy said in an advisory.

“All those who are travelling to Kiev, including those travelling from western parts of Kyiv, are advised to return to their respective cities temporarily, especially towards safer places along the western bordering countries,” the advisory read.

The embassy issued a second advisory of the day a few hours later. “This is to inform all Indians in Ukraine that since the Ukrainian airspace has been closed, the schedule for special flights stand cancelled. Alternative arrangements are being made for evacuation of Indian nationals,” it said.

“We are closely monitoring the rapidly changing situation. Focus is on safety and security of Indians, particularly students,” a New Delhi source said.

It said the control room set by the Ministry of External Affairs a few days ago is being expanded and made operational on a 24x7 basis. Moreover, Ukraine closed its airspace making it impossible to send special aircraft to Ukraine to evacuate the Indians including the students and the Indian embassy staff.
 

15K Indians in Ukraine
“The government is looking at ways to extend assistance to Indians there,” said a source. It is estimated that there are over 15,000 Indians in Ukraine. It is learnt that a series of meetings are underway to assess the situation and ways to extend assistance to Indians in the eastern European country