Ukraine: Indian students stuck in Sumy told to get set to leave

There are around 1,700 pupils stranded in the northeastern Ukrainian city that has been under relentless Russian shelling since February 24

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Sunday asked all Indians still in the war-ravaged country to urgently submit their details in a prescribed format.: File photo

Anita Joshua   |  TT  |  New Delhi   |  07.03.22  : The Indian embassy in Ukraine late on Sunday night asked the 700 students stranded in Sumy to be ready to leave at short notice.

“Team from Embassy of India is stationed in Poltava City to coordinate the safe passage of Indian students stranded in Sumy to Western borders via Poltava. Confirmed time & date will be issued soon. Indian students advised to be ready to leave on short notice,” the mission tweeted.

Sources said the evacuation from Sumy to Poltava is being organised for all the international students stuck in the city by the Sumy Department of Education through a negotiated corridor. The tentative time for movement is 9am on Monday. There are around 1,700 international students stranded in the northeastern Ukrainian city that has been under relentless Russian shelling since February 24.

The tweet came at the end of a day that had seen no progress on the evacuation of the Indians. The only relief for the students had been water supply, which was provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The students had been without water for over 48 hours after the city’s supply system got damaged in the bombing.

Through the day, the external affairs ministry offered no word on the efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to agree to a humanitarian corridor for the students to exit through the Russian border, which is about 30km away.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Sunday asked all Indians still in the war-ravaged country to urgently submit their details in a prescribed format.

The form is identical to one the mission had asked all Indians to fill up when it carried out a registration exercise in late January, as tensions began to mount between Russia and Ukraine.

The latest exercise is a mop-up effort to get the details of those who had not registered in the first round.

In all, an estimated 1,700 foreign students are stranded in Sumy and their plight is drawing international media attention.

The majority of Indians in Ukraine have returned.

As of Sunday evening, 15,920 Indians have been brought back from countries bordering Ukraine.

Ukraine’s bordering countries under Operation Ganga. Seven flights have been scheduled over the next 24 hours.

The external affairs ministry has said more flights will be pressed into service whenever there is a requirement.