Govt: 1,314 Indians airlifted from Ukraine’s neighbouring nations
NEW DELHI: A total of 1,314 Indians were airlifted on Monday by seven civilian flights from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries, the civil aviation ministry said. “Tomorrow, two special civilian flights are expected to operate from Suceva, Romania, to bring more than 400 Indians back home,” the ministry’s statement added.On Monday, four civilian flights landed in Delhi while two reached Mumbai, the ministry noted. “One flight is expected late in the evening (on Monday),” it said.
Meanwhile, an Indian Air Force (IAF) flight carrying Indian student Harjot Singh, who was shot in Ukrainian capital Kyiv a few days ago, landed at the Hindon airbase here on Monday evening, officials said.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh and around 200 Indians, mainly students, also returned to India on the flight that landed at 6.15 pm, they added. Singh was in Poland to facilitate the evacuation of students.On February 27, 31-year-old Harjot Singh, along with his two friends, boarded a cab for the western Ukrainian city of Lviv in a bid to escape Kyiv. He was shot four times, including in his chest. Harjot Singh’s family in Delhi had told PTI on Sunday that they were “very, very happy” that he was returning and were eagerly awaiting his arrival.
The Ministry of External Affairs had on Friday announced that the government would bear medical expenses of Harjot Singh.On March 1, medical student
Naveen SG from Karnataka was killed in shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv when he ventured out to buy food for himself and his peers.
The Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive. Indian citizens stuck in Ukraine are being airlifted once they cross to neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
The Centre arranged for flights from neighbouring countries of Ukraine for the evacuation of Indian students under ‘Operation Ganga’. To evacuate Indian students stranded in the war zone, the Indian government on February 28 sent ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to coordinate evacuation. The government also sought help from the Air Force that has been flying C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft to speed up the process. On Sunday the Indian government said that since February 22, it has so far evacuated nearly 16,000 Indian students from Ukraine through flights from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries.