India evacuates 12,000 of its citizens from Ukraine

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said all Indian citizens have left Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine under attack by Russian troops, Report informs referring to India Today.

He also said that 60% of all Indian nationals have returned from Ukraine.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, an estimated 20,000 Indian students were present in Ukraine when the first advisory was issued and 12,000 of them have since left the country.

"All of our nationals have left Kyiv. The information with us is that we have no more nationals left in Kyiv, nobody has contacted us from Kyiv since," Shringla said.

Foreign Secretary Shringla said that of the remaining 40%, roughly half remain in conflict zones in Kharkiv, Sumy and the other half have either reached the western borders of Ukraine or are heading towards the western part of Ukraine, which is considered to be a safer place.

"At least 1,400 Indian citizens in Zaporizhzhia have moved to the western border and 400 students have moved to Moldova," Shringla said.

"Earlier this afternoon I separately called in the Ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine. I reiterated strongly our demand for urgent safe passage for all Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and other cities in the conflict area," Shringla added.

According to MEA, over the next three days, 26 flights have been scheduled to evacuate citizens. Apart from Bucharest and Budapest, airports in Poland and Slovak Republic will also be used.