Over 200 students from Andhra Pradesh who are stranded in Ukraine have sought help from Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to leave the east European country, his government said on Friday.
Reddy, who spoke to External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar about the efforts being made by India to evacuate its citizens, announced helpline numbers–+48660460814, +48606700105 (Ukraine) and 1902, 8500027678 (Andhra Pradesh)–set up to assist the students and their anxious parents in the state.
Jaishankar told Reddy that the Centre had been taking all possible measures to evacuate the students by relocating them first to nearby countries and later to India. Reddy offered him all support from the state government.
Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma said the central government had stationed four teams near Ukraine’s borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania to airlift the students safely. Officials said that most students wanted to know the Indian government’s assessment of the security situation in the country after Russia invaded it.
Officials said that while the exact number of Andhra students in Ukraine was yet to be ascertained, over 200 of them were medical students. (Express/Sourced)
The chief minister directed his top officials to establish contact with every stranded Andhra native and pass information gathered from them to the central government. He said control rooms would be set up in districts and that the state would send special flights to airlift the students if necessary.
According to Dinesh Kumar, CEO of APNRTS (Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society), airlifting can start only after the no-flying zone over Ukraine is lifted.
Officials said that while the exact number of Andhra students in Ukraine was yet to be ascertained, over 200 of them were medical students. Several students are studying in non-medical universities and many others are working, they added.
An official said the students who had sent videos from Ukraine did not appear to be in panic but wanted to return home as soon as possible. “Some of them who are in Kyiv got scared when rockets fell on a couple of apartments nearby,’’ the official said.