New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has kept its Russian plane IL-76 on standby to evacuate stranded students in Ukraine’s Kharkiv from Moscow, according to a report by Hindustan Times. On Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv urged its citizens stranded in Ukraine’s city largest city Kharkiv, which remained under a heavy bombing campaign from Russian forces with missiles striking civilian areas, to urgently fill an online registration form.
“All Indian Nationals who are in KHARKIV excluding PISOCHYN, please fill up details contained in the form on an urgent basis,” the Indian Embassy in Kyiv said in a tweet.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said hundreds of Indian citizens were stranded in Kharkiv as government urged all its citizens stranded in the city to immediately evacuate from there even if they were required to travel on “foot”.
“Urgent advisory to all Indian nationals in Kharkiv. For their safety and security they must leave Kharkiv immediately. Proceed to Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka as soon as possible. Under all circumstances they must reach these settlements by 1800 hrs (Ukrainian time) today,” the advisory stated.
India’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, issued survival guidelines for Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine, especially Kharkiv, while warning them of aerial raids and drone attacks. “Here are the sentences in Russian: ‘Ya student iz Indii (I am a student from India)’, ‘Ya nekombatant (I am a non-combatant)’, ‘Pazhalusta Pamagite (please, help me)’,” the ministry said in advisory for Indian nationals in Ukraine’s Kharkiv about potentially dangerous and difficult situations to be expected.
(With inputs from IANS)
