The advisory issued by the Indian Embassy in Ukraine urging its citizens to leave Kharkiv immediately was on the basis of information received from Russia, the External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday. The Embassy had asked Indians stranded in Kharkiv to leave the city as soon as possible and proceed to Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka.
Kharkiv has been witnessing intense shelling since Monday amid the ranging fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, killing several people including an Indian medical student.
India has ramped up its evacuation mission under which hundreds of Indians from Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia are being brought back home after they exited Ukraine through its land border crossings.
According to MEA, six flights have landed in India in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of flights that have landed in the country to 15 and the total number of Indians who have returned on these flights to 3,352.
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“As many as 15 flights are scheduled over the next 24 hours. Some of these are already enroute,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
He claimed there has been a sharp increase in the number of Indians who have left Ukraine. “We now estimate that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine borders since our advisories were issued,” Bagchi said.
The Indian Embassy in Kyiv has been asked to set up a temporary office in Lviv to facilitate border crossings by Indians. “A substantial segment of our Embassy team is now at Lviv for this purpose. Location of the other segment of the Embassy team is dynamic,” Bagchi said.
The spokesperson further informed that a mechanism for issuing emergency certificates to those who lost their Indian passports has been instituted. “I think this will also help many Indian students”.
Bagchi said cities in eastern Ukraine remain an area of concern. “Encouraging reports are coming that some students were able to board trains out of Kharkiv last night, today morning...We've been in communication with Russian side regarding safe passage of our nationals from Kharkiv and other cities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ministry confirmed the death of another India citizen in Ukraine on Wednesday, but said the death was due to natural causes.
“Chandan Jindal, an Indian national in Ukraine's Vinnytsia lost his life due to natural causes. His family members are also in Ukraine,” Bagchi said.
Asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday night, Bagchi said: "The prime minister has been speaking to leaders of several countries. We share with you whenever such talks take place. I would not like to say anything beforehand".
The MEA spokesperson further said that India is ready to help any other country if it gets requests from them. “In principle, we're always ready to help other countries. If we get a specific request on it, then our stand will be guided by it. If we get an opportunity like that, and we are able to do it, then we will definitely help,” Bagchi said.
