Russia-Ukraine war: India seeks ceasefire to evacuate its citizens from conflict zones
India Today
Russia-Ukraine war news updates: India has sought a ceasefire in Ukraine to evacuate its citizens from the conflict zones of Kharkiv and Sumy.
India on Friday sought ceasefire by Russian and Ukrainian troops for evacuation of its citizens from the conflict zones of Kharkiv and Sumy in eastern Ukraine and said it is yet to see any movement in implementation of the decision by the two sides to create safe corridors for the exit of civilians.
Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said that around 300 Indians are stranded in Kharkiv and 700 are in Sumy, while some citizens out of over 900 are being taken out of Pisochyn in five buses.
At a media briefing, he said over 20,000 Indians have left Ukraine since India issued initial advisories in mid-February before the conflict began and that over 10,300 citizens were brought back in 48 flights under evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' so far.
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Bagchi said Indian student Harjot Singh, who received bullet injuries in Kyiv, is safe and undergoing treatment at a hospital, adding the Indian government will pay for his medical treatment.
He said India is primarily focusing on evacuating its nationals out of the conflict zones in eastern Ukraine including from Kharkiv and Sumy, adding that the total number of Indians stuck in Ukraine could be roughly in the range of 2,000 to 3,000.
To a question on Russian media reports that five Indian students were injured in a conflict zone on Thursday and the whereabouts of 11 others are not known, Bagchi said India does not have any such information.
