'Leave Kyiv urgently', advises Indian embassy in Ukraine

A fighter of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces. Pic/ AFP

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Tuesday advised its nationals to leave the capital city Kyiv "urgently today" amid the deteriorating security situation due to the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

"Advisory to Indians in Kyiv: All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available," the Indian embassy in Ukraine tweeted.

The Union government has launched Operation Ganga to bring back stranded students and Indian citizens from conflict-torn Ukraine.

This advisory comes as satellite images have emerged showing a long convoy of Russian military vehicles snaking along roadways northwest of Kyiv, CNN reported. Hundreds of tanks, towed artillery, armored and logistical vehicles can be seen in the image released by a US-based space technology company.

About 8000 Indian nationals have left since the initial advisories were issued by the country, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

"Evacuation efforts on Ukraine situation on the ground continue to be complex and fluid, some of them quite concerning, but we've been able to accelerate evacuation process. Over 8000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since we issued the initial advisories," the MEA spokesperson said during a media briefing.

He also informed that the six evacuation flight have landed in India bringing back over 1400 citizens under Operation Ganga.

"The six evacuation flights have landed in India bringing back around 1400 (1396) citizens. The four flights were from Bucharest (Romania), while the other two were from Budapest (Hungary), he said.

The MEA also informed that the government will send four Union Ministers as special envoys to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate evacuations of stranded Indians amid ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine.

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