India looking at ways to assist its nationals in Ukraine

Ministry of External Affairs runs 24X7 control room to offer assistance to stranded Indians.

With Russia announcing millitary operations on Ukraine, and the nation closing its airspace, India is looking at alternative routes to to evacuate its citizens from the conflict region.

India is sending more Russian speaking officials to embassy in Kiev as well as countries neighbouring Ukraine to help in creating alternate evacuation routes for Indians in Ukraine, officials in Ministry of External Affairs told The Hindu on Thursday.

The Ministry held a series of high-level meetings to put into operation certain contingency plans in view of the rapidly changing situation in Ukraine.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine is functional and its advisories should be followed carefully, officials said.

“We are still in Kiev and were woken up by a loud blast 15 minutes back from the Boryspil airport side,” said Baroon Varma, an Indian student in the city, through a message on the social media.

The Embassy of India in Kiev had earlier issued two advisories urging “non-essential” Indian residents and students in various universities and medical colleges of Ukraine to leave. Many students, however, could not leave immediately as international airlines hiked ticket prices. Air India flew its first “special ferry flight” on February 22 to Kiev to airlift Indian citizens from Ukraine. Similar flights are unlikely to take place now. “We won’t be able to leave now,” said Panmana Anandhu of Sunny State University.