With around 16,000 Indian nationals believed to be stranded in Ukraine amid fierce fighting with Russia, the Indian government is reportedly planning to send evacuation flights.
Indians stuck in Ukraine might be flown back from neighbouring countries, as per an NDTV report quoting government sources. The cost of the flights would reportedly be borne by the government. Earlier, Indians in Ukraine had been asked to take commercial flights.
On February 24, the day that the war began, the Narendra Modi administration announced that it is sending government teams to various points along Ukraine's land borders to aid in evacuation of Indians. This is because Ukrainian airspace was closed once fighting broke out, and an Air India flight also had to turn back earlier in the day.
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India's foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said that safe routes for evacuation had been mapped out. He said that people can reach Poland from Ukraine's capital Kyiv in 9 hours by road, and Romania in 12 hours.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and told him that India places paramount importance on the safe return of its citizens from Ukraine.