Operation Ganga: EAM Jaishankar apprises President Kovind of evacuation efforts in Ukraine

Amid heightened efforts to evacuate Indian nationals from war-ridden Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar apprised President Ram Nath Kovind of the progress of Operation Ganga. Later, the President called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and lauded the government’s efforts in the evacuation of Indian nationals including students from Ukraine.

Earlier this morning, PM Modi too had called President Kovind and briefed him about all issues arising out of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. 

On Monday night, the PM had chaired a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis with Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, VK Singh, Piyush Goyal, and other top bureaucrats. This was the third such meeting presided over by him in a span of 24 hours amid concerns over the safety of Indians.

Under the aegis of Operation Ganga, the Union government is aiming to evacuate Indians from Hungary, Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Slovakia at its own expense as Ukraine has closed its airspace for civilian flights. Until now, 9 evacuation flights carrying at least 2,000 nationals have arrived in India. 

PM Modi has also dispatched four Union Ministers to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine in an effort to coordinate with the foreign EU governments to ensure the smooth arrival of its citizens. While Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju, and VK Singh will be going to Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland respectively, Scindia will visit Romania and Moldova to coordinate the evacuation mission and extend assistance to the stranded nationals. The PM has also called for the Indian Air Force to join evacuation efforts from Ukraine. 

India asks nationals to leave Kyiv urgently

Amid the deteriorating situation in war-torn Ukraine, the Indian Embassy has advised its nationals to leave Kyiv urgently today. Issuing a fresh advisory to its nationals on March 1, the embassy advised all Indian citizens, including students to leave the capital city by trains or "through any other means available."

The advisory came shortly after reports of Russia using 'vacuum bombs' against Ukraine surfaced on Monday. 

The Defence Ministry of Ukraine has informed that Russian occupation forces are using tactics to destroy infrastructure and launch missile and bomb strikes on settlements, disregarding international humanitarian law.

The Ministry also informed that Russian forces have increased their use of artillery north of Kyiv and in the vicinities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv. "The use of heavy artillery in densely populated urban areas greatly increases the risk of civilian casualties," he said.