New Delhi: After desperate videos of help made rounds, the Indian embassy late in the night today issued a new notice assuring all stranded Indians help at the earliest. A huge score of Indians are stranded in Sumy- underway heaving shelling and Kharkiv- virtually under the control of Russian saboteurs.
India on Friday at UNHRC had sought a ceasefire by troops of both sides to enable evacuation of its citizens from conflict zones. As per reports, 1000 Indians with the majority of them in Sumy are reported to have been sending SOS messages across as Russians bombarded the city intensely.
Groups of Indian students at the Sumy State University had appealed to Prime Minister in an emotional plea to save their lives. “We have been expecting the government to help, but we have got no information. Some are saying buses are waiting at the Russian border, which is about 50 km from here. If we walk from the hostel, there are snipers in all four directions, everywhere. We fear airstrikes. Bombardment is happening every 20 minutes,” they said in a video.
So far, 20,000 nationals have left Ukraine and await evacuation in the neighbouring countries, MEA spokesperson said addressing a press conference. Three Air Force aircraft carrying 629 Indians from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries landed at the Hindon airbase near Delhi early this morning. Eleven more special civilian flights are also expected to land today with more than 2,200 Indians from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. Additionally, four C-17 aircraft are airborne for Romania, Poland and Slovakia, which are expected to reach late at night and early morning today.