PHOTOS: First Batch Of Indian Students Leave Ukraine, To Be Evacuated Via Romania. See Here

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday set up camp offices in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in the western part of war-hit Ukraine to facilitate the transit of Indians to Hungary, Romania, and Poland.

New Delhi: The first batch of Indian students left Chernivtsi for the Ukraine-Romania border on Friday, from where they will be sent back to Delhi, news agency ANI reported. The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday set up camp offices in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in the western part of war-hit Ukraine to facilitate the transit of Indians to Hungary, Romania, and Poland. The MEA is deputing Russian-speaking officials to these offices.

The camp office in Lviv would be able to coordinate the evacuation of Indians to Poland and Hungary while the one at Chernivtsi would facilitate exit to Romania, news agency PTI reported.

“Officials there are assisting Indian citizens who reach these cities, and will facilitate their departure from Ukraine through adjoining border crossings,” a source femilier with the development told PTI.

The sources said the first batch of Indian students has now left Chernivtsi for the Ukraine-Romania border. India is focusing on evacuating the Indians through Ukraine’s land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania as the Ukrainian government closed the country’s airspace following the Russian military offensive.

Government officials said Air India is planning to operate two flights to Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday to evacuate some of the Indians.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on Thursday that there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days.

In a related development, the Indian embassy in Ukraine said efforts are on to evacuate the Indians through Romanian and Hungarian border crossings. In an advisory, the embassy said Indian teams are being deputed at the Chop-Zahony check post on the Hungarian border as well as at Porubne-Stret on the Romanian border around Chernivtsi in Uzhhorod.