India has launched ‘Operation Ganga’ and has sent four flights so far to bring back students to India. The fourth flight was sent last afternoon. Since Saturday, over 900 people have been evacuated and brought back to India.Photo : Times Now DigitalNew Delhi: Horrific stories are emerging from war-hit Ukraine as many Indians, including students, are either stranded at borders or locked up in bunkers. Last evening, there were reports that Indians were reportedly not being permitted to cross the borders to Poland and Slovakia and have nowhere to go in light of the Russian offensive.After travelling hundreds of kilometres from their respective colleges and standing in long queues for hours, they were turned away at the Polish and Slovakian borders, leading many students, in desperation, to make video calls to media outlets to apprise the Indian authorities of their struggles.Meanwhile, news agency IANS has published a report about an Indian group of 21 students of Chernivtsi National University which remains stranded in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. Since the Russia-Ukraine war has escalated, they have been informed that local authorities have issued shoot-at-site orders.Eleven of the 21 students stranded at Chernivtsi are girls and ten are boys.Related NewsUkraine Crisis: First batch of students leave for Romania’s border as MEA Camp offices become operationalIndia operates addl flights to evacuate citizens stranded in war-torn UkraineAccording to a report in IANS, Ukrainian Police guards assaulted and harassed female students.Priya, one of the students, told the news agency that Indian students are stranded in Ukraine and are in need of assistance.She further told IANS that over the last four days, the Indian students have eaten only three to four spoons of rice a day. The embassy asked us to get on a train at our own risk to leave the town, said Priya, adding that they managed to reach Chernivtsi somehow and spent nearly Rs 2.5 lakh so far. “No train was available and we are losing hope,” she continued.Related News’No help from Islamabad’: Pakistani students stuck in Ukraine share ordeal in video – WatchWhile narrating the ordeal, she said Indian students were stranded on the roads. Priya added that Indian students like her are running out of money and food, and now their lives are at risk.”We are roaming on the road and can meet with any fate. We need help,” she told the news agency, asking for help in any way possible.Additionally, the students also shared a video about their journey to Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Chernivtsi. According to them, no one would help them and the border had been closed by 8 pm.Students are calling for the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs of the Union to intervene immediately to save their lives.DTN250222_52_Video_of_indian_students_at_chernivtsiEvacuating Indian students top priority: PM Modi On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis and emphasised that ensuring the safety of Indian students and evacuating them is the government’s top priority, news agency PTI mentioned official sources as saying.At the meeting, a decision was made to further enhance cooperation with Ukraine’s neighbours in order to speed up the evacuation of Indian students, they added.S Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs, attended the two-hour-long meeting, which was also attended by top government officials, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. In the aftermath of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a large number of Indians, mostly students, are stranded there. India had begun the evacuation of its stranded citizens on Saturday, with the first chartered flight returning 219 people to Mumbai from Bucharest.Ukraine’s airspace has been closed to civil aircraft since the Russian military attacked that country on February 24 morning. As a result, evacuation flights are being operated from Bucharest and Budapest.
Indian students stranded amidst Russia-Ukraine war narrate ordeal
