“Be Strong”: The Indian Embassy’s New Assurance To Sumy Students
Following a flurry of desperate video appeals from Indian students stranded in northeast Ukraine’s Sumy, the Indian embassy in the war-torn country said today that it is looking into “all possible mechanisms” to safely and securely evacuate them. In an early-morning tweet, it stated that it had discussed evacuation and the identification of exit routes with all interlocutors, including the international humanitarian organisation Red Cross.
“Exploring all options for safely and securely evacuating Indian citizens in Sumy. Evacuation and identification of exit routes were discussed with all interlocutors, including the Red Cross. The control room will remain operational until all of our citizens have been evacuated. Be safe and strong “It stated. On Friday, India requested a cease-fire by Russian and Ukrainian troops in order to evacuate its citizens from the conflict zones of Kharkiv and Sumy.
At least 1,000 Indians – 700 in Sumy and 300 in Kharkiv – are still stranded in conflict zones in eastern Ukraine, the government said on Friday, adding that arranging buses to evacuate them is the most difficult task at the moment. Indian students at Sumy State University made an emotional plea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save their lives. They claim that bombs are being dropped near their university campus on a regular basis and that they can hear gunfights and air raids.
They claimed to have run out of essential supplies such as food and water. Students may soon be collecting snow in freezing temperatures to arrange for water, according to videos posted by them.
Arindam Bagchi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, stated at a press conference that 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 have been brought back in 48 flights under the evacuation mission ‘Operation Ganga’ so far.
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