The IAF and Indian carriers will operate 19 flights to bring back 3,726 Indians from Ukraine's neighbouring countries to India on Thursday, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said. Under Operation Ganga, eight flights of the IAF, Air India and IndiGo will operate from the Romanian capital Bucharest to India on Thursday, he said on Twitter.The Indian Air Force (IAF) is using its C-17 military transport aircraft for this evacuation operation. India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.
The minister said two flights of IndiGo will depart from Romanian city Suceava and one flight of SpiceJet will leave from Slovakian city Kosice on Thursday. The IAF, Go First and Air India will operate five flights from Hungarian capital Budapest to India on Thursday, he said, adding IndiGo will operate two flights from Polish city Rzeszow to India the same day. "With all hands on deck and the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, we will get 3,726 of our people back home today. Jai Hind!" Scindia tweeted. Meanwhile, the second-largest city of Kharkiv is witnessing bombardment even as the Kremlin faces increasing isolation on the world stage. According to reports, Russian troops have seized Ukraine's Kherson, a strategically important city.