Indian students from Sumy are being evacuated, says MEA
In the latest update regarding Indians stranded in Ukraine's Sumy, Arindam Bagchi on Tuesday confirmed that the evacuation process for Indian students in the city has started and they are being been taken in buses to Poltava.
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“Happy to inform that we have been able to move out all Indian students from Sumy. They are currently en route to Poltava, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine. Flights under #OperationGanga are being prepared to bring them home”, said the tweet.
Last week, reports claimed that over 600 hundred students were stranded in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy. The students claimed there was an acute shortage of food and water and they hoped to be evacuated from the city. Considering Sumy lies in the northeastern peninsula of Ukraine, it was difficult for them to travel to the western border, from where they could reach neighbouring Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova, from where the evacuation was happening. Meanwhile, the government also uttered ‘concerns' regarding Sumy.
"The border in Ukraine's western part is located almost 1,500 kms away from Sumy, whereas the Russian border is just 50 kms away. The railway station in Sumy has also been closed due to bombing, and traveling via road is like committing suicide since Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting against each other at such places," a student had told PTI in an earlier report.
Meanwhile, the students there shot a video urging PM Modi and the Indian government to rescue them. The student noted that there is an acute shortage of water and food. “Haven't drunk a single drop of water from yesterday night," they said.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy ways to start the stalled evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine's besieged Sumy city pummelled by the invading Russian forces.
-PTC News
