As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its 11 day on Sunday, India will operate eight flights to bring back 1500 people from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries on Monday.
The injured Indian student Harjot Singh, who was shot at in Ukraine and was recovering in a hospital in Kiev, will also be returning by an Indian Air Force flight C-17 from Poland’s Rseszow alongwith 199 other passengers.
The number of Indians airlifted by 76 special civilian flights goes up to 15920 under “Operation Ganga” mission. The Government managed to bring back 2135 people by 11 evacuation flights on Sunday.
Sources said Harjot is being brought back to India, accompanied by Union Minister VK Singh, on a C-17 IAF aircraft, which will land at Hindan airforce station in Ghaziabad. "As Harjot has lost his passport, an emergency certificate (EC) has been issued to him," sources added.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, five evacuation flights will be operated from Budapest, two from Suceava and one from Bucharest on Monday. As per details, a total eight flights will operate to bring back over 1500 people. "Under 'Operation Ganga' to rescue Indian citizens, 2,135 Indians have been brought back today (Sunday) by 11 special civilian flights from Ukraine's neighbouring countries. Of them, nine landed in New Delhi while two reached Mumbai. There were 6 flights from Budapest, 2 from Bucharest, 2 from Rzeszow, and 1 from Kosice," the ministry noted in a statement.
An Air India Express flight carrying 185 people, mostly students, from Bucharest landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Sunday morning. The flight IX-1202 included a maximum 102 people from Kerala, besides 18 from Tamil Nadu and 12 from Maharashtra.
To date, the Indian Air Force has flown 10 sorties to bring back 2,056 passengers while taking 26 tonnes of relief load to these countries as part of 'Operation Ganga'. The Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive. Indian citizens fleeing Ukraine are being airlifted from its neighbours such as Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has reached Vienna on his way back to India from Slovakia where he coordinated evacuations of Indians from the war-hit Ukraine. In a tweet, the Indian embassy said the ambassador received Rijiju in the Austrian capital.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said around 1,800 students from the state were stuck in the war-torn Ukraine, of which 1,234 have been evacuated. The Madhya Pradesh government said that 421 of the total 454 people hailing from the state stranded in war-hit Ukraine have safely returned so far.