Special flight from Ukraine lands at Delhi airport, returnee, students say ‘tension building up

A special flight from Ukraine landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday morning, carrying 182 Indian nationals (mostly students) from the crisis-hit European country. The flight landed at 7.45 am. Earlier this morning Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a surprise 'military operation' in Ukraine.)Dhruv Malhotra, a fifth-year student of medicine in the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine, was among those who returned. “Right now, it’s peaceful and the situation is under control in Kharkiv and Kyiv. But the tension seems to be building up, and we were advised to leave,” he said.

Malhotra, who is from Vrindavan, said that his friends are also headed back soon, some on the Air India flights scheduled for the next few days, and others who have booked on other airlines. In addition to the one that landed on Tuesday, Air India is operating two special flights between Kyiv and Delhi on February 24 and 26.Mohammad Alfaiz, a second-year student of medicine from Delhi, said that there seemed to be a lot of tension among the Ukrainians. “The situation is normal so far, but students are worried,” he said.“Classes will now be held online. It will have an impact on our studies, since practicals will be affected, and we’ll be able to get back only once the situation returns to normal,” said Mohammad Zeeshan, also a second-year MBBS student from Mumbai. “Our friends will be returning soon as well. People are returning as and when they are able to book flights. The flight tickets we have been seeing are very expensive. ”In an advisory issued on February 20, the Indian embassy in Kyiv had asked all Indian nationals “whose stay is not deemed essential and all Indian students” to leave Ukraine temporarily, in view of “the continued high levels of tensions and uncertainties with respect to the situation in Ukraine”.In another advisory issued on Tuesday, the embassy again asked Indian students to leave Ukraine temporarily, rather than wait for an official confirmation from universities about online classes.