As the last leg of Operation Ganga begins, students stuck in Ukrainian city of Sumy await their turn to fly home

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters day 11, India on Sunday announced the last leg of its evacuation process -Operation Ganga.

Around 13,330 Indians were brought back to India in 63 flights on Saturday, and efforts are on to evacuate more with 13 more flights bringing back those who have crossed the Ukrainian border.

The Indian Embassy in Ukraine has asked all Indians who are still in Ukraine to fill up an online form along with details of their current location. The locations mentioned are Cherkassy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytsky, Kirovograd, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsya, Volyn, Zakarpattya, Zaporozhzhya and Zhytomyr.

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Hungary has asked Indians to reach Budapest. “All those students staying on their own accommodation (other than arranged by the embassy) are requested to reach Hungaria City Center, Budapest, between 10 am and 12 pm,’’ the Indian Embassy in Hungary stated.

However, the main challenge for the Indian government is in safely evacuating the 700 students stuck in Sumy. With supplies running out and the advisory given to them on not to step out, due to continuous shelling, the students are in great turmoil.

Diplomatically India has tried to request both Ukraine and Russia for a ceasefire in order to evacuate its students, but nothing has been done to that effect yet.

“We are exploring all options available, and our topmost priority is the safety of each student. We will not sit back till the last Indian is brought back to safety,’’ MEA spokesperson said.