A special flight carrying around 200 Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine reached Delhi from Romania on Thursday.
The Indigo special flight departed from the Romanian capital Bucharest on Wednesday (local time) under Operation Ganga.
Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar received the Indian citizens on their arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport. He interacted with the students.
"We are bringing our citizens back putting in all effort despite the difficulties. It is the core ideology of the Modi government to reach out to every Indian who is in distress," Chandrasekhar told ANI.
Prerna, a medical student studying in Ukraine, said, "We travelled a lot through borders. It is relief to be back in India. The situation in Ukraine is not good. I believe in Ukrainian Army and President Zelenskyy."
Another student said, "I am very thankful to the government. But I am worried about the students who are stranded in the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv. I hope all returns soon."
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.
"Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. Includes IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3000 Indian nationals," tweeted Jaishankar.
A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.
The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials. The Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue in the last few days.
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.
Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.
The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies.
( With inputs from ANI )
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