Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday issued a fresh advisory to its citizens stranded in Kharkiv, urging them to leave the city immediately. The Embassy urged them to proceed to Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka and reach these spots by 6 pm.
“Urgent advisory to all Indian nationals in Kharkiv. For their safety and security they must leave Kharkiv immediately. Proceed to Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka as soon as possible. Under all circumstances, they must reach these settlements by 18.00 Hrs (Ukrainian Time),” the Embassy said in a tweet.
The advisory came a day after Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, a fourth-year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University, was killed in intense shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday.
Amid ranging fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, India has ramped up its evacuation mission under which the Indians from Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia are being brought back home after they exited Ukraine through its land border crossings.
Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said six flights under India's evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' have departed for India in the last 24 hours. He said the flights that departed for India in the last 24 hours included the first one from Poland.
Following the closure of Ukrainian airspace, India is facilitating the evacuation of stranded Indians from Ukraine through its land border crossings.
At a media briefing on Tuesday night, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said 26 flights have been scheduled to bring out Indian citizens over the next three days.
A C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force has left for Romania on Wednesday morning carrying humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The aircraft is expected to bring back Indians from Romania, who exited war-hit Ukraine through its border crossings.
Shringla said apart from Bucharest and Budapest, airports in Poland and the Slovak Republic will also be used to operate the flights.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also joined the evacuation efforts.
"The NDRF has provided relief material including blankets, sleeping mats, and solar study lamps etc. for Indian students. The relief material was sent through a flight that left for Poland this morning and another on an Indian Air Force (IAF) flight that left for Romania this afternoon," the home ministry said in a statement.
