Russia-Ukraine War: All Indian students, numbering about 570, have been evacuated from the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy. The total number of people evacuated from Sumi is around 600. This includes a total of 580 students, 20 Indians on work permits. In addition, 17 other nationals from Nepal, Pakistan, Tunisia and Bangladesh were also evacuated.
Several small teams of Indian officials were sent to the eastern part of Ukraine to facilitate the Indians, mostly students taking shelter on campus and in bunkers. Buses and vehicles were also arranged to transport the students. The Indian Embassy in Kyiv tweeted late on Sunday that a team of officials has been deployed in the city of Poltava.
The massive evacuation operation comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky over the phone. During the conversation, Putin assured the Prime Minister of cooperation in the evacuation of Indians from the war-torn Sumy. The Prime Minister had expressed serious concern about the safety of Indian students stranded in battlefields.
India carried out the process of evacuating people despite the Russian army shelling in Sumy. In fact, the government last week urged both Russian and Ukrainian officials for a ceasefire so that the evacuation process can be carried out without any fear.