It was a big birthday blow for Insha Marie Stepan, a medical student in Ivano-Frankivsk, war-torn Ukraine, who turned 22 on February 22. The next day the city airport was bombed. The only way out was to get to the border – although Poland was close, he and his fellow students chose to go to Romania. She says the bus ride was so slow that there were traffic jams everywhere that she and her fellow students had to walk fast.
At the border, the crowd was huge, with the gates only opening for ten minutes and then closing. Border forces had to wait for hours to eliminate tear gas and pepper-spray to control the crowds before entering Romania. Friends parted in a scuffle. It was everyone’s own.
Insha is now back in Delhi, but it is a journey she will never forget. India’s ‘Operation Ganga’ is in full swing, as Russia invaded Ukraine and the airspace was closed a week ago, with the government managing to operate 30 flights to evacuate a total of 6,400 Indian nationals .
However, over 2,000 students are still stuck in conflict zones, struggling to find their way out. “My sister and some other Indian students in Kharkiv left their hostel after shells fell next to the hostel, and walked 8 km to the nearest railway station. Only girls were allowed to board the overcrowded train that brought them to Lviv, where they faced more uncertainty,” said Parvati Benu, who is in constant touch with her sister and garnering support from Chennai. is trying its best.
Benu said there is a lot of chaos in Lviv, where the Indian embassy in Ukraine has set up a temporary office. Her sister was lucky as she managed to get in touch with the Indian Embassy officials, but many are still wandering around unaware.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi told a news conference on Thursday that with the Russian offensive on Kharkiv intensifying, the task of Indian officials trying to expedite the evacuation process has become difficult. “This is a dynamic situation. We are in contact with the Ukrainian and Russian authorities to see how we can get out of Kharkiv and Sumy,” he said. A thousand students are in Pechenizhyn, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine. Talking to students and airline personnel, it appears that some safe corridors have been provided for passing, though the weather conditions have made travel dangerous.
special flights
India is operating special evacuation flights, including the IAF C-17 Globemaster, and by Air India, Indigo, SpiceJet and GoAir from neighboring countries of Ukraine such as Romania, Hungary, Poland and Belarus. “In addition, a new location has been identified near the Romanian border, the city of Suceava, from where the two flights will operate,” Bagchi said.
It is estimated that around 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the initial advisory was issued. This includes some Indians who had not previously registered with the Indian Embassy in Kyiv
Published on
March 03, 2022