Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], March 4 : As part of the ongoing 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate the stranded Indian citizens from Ukraine, 18 students hailing from Kerala reached Thiruvananthapuram via an Indigo flight on Friday.
Speaking to ANI, Manu Ajai who returned today said that they were supported by the officials of the Romanian and Indian governments.
"They started the attack on February 25 from the Army bases. We evacuated as soon as possible and reached the border on February 27. It was very difficult and it was with the support of so many other people also. Romanian government volunteers, the Indian government, Norka officials everyone helped us. With their help, we have reached here and I am so happy that we reached here. There are still students in Kharkiv," he said.
Another student Anusree also credited the government officials for her return to India.
"We started our journey on February 25, and on March 4, we reached here with the help of the Indian government and especially I want to thank the Romanian government," she said.
Meanwhile, a total of 5,245 Indian nationals were airlifted from Romania to the country till March 3 amid Russia's military operations in Ukraine, informed the Government of India on Friday.
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor