The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Sunday advised all students stranded in the war-hit country to fill up an online form on an “urgent basis”. In the form, students have been asked to mention their personal details and the city they are stranded in.
“All Indian nationals who still remain in Ukraine are requested to fill up the details contained in the attached Google Form on an URGENT BASIS,” the embassy said in a tweet. “Be safe, be strong.”
Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Hungary said it would begin the “last leg” of the evacuation flights on Sunday. The authorities asked students living at accommodations arranged on their own, to reach Hungaria City Centre in the capital city of Budapest between 10 am and 12 pm local time.
India has dispatched teams with over 150 volunteers at the Hungary-Ukrainian border to give on-ground support to the evacuation operations. The embassy has set up a control room in Budapest to coordinate evacuation efforts of Indians, ANI reported.
“We have teams at the Hungary-Ukraine border giving us information on how many Indians are crossing the border, other teams looking after accommodations, transport etc”, said Rajiv Bodwade, deputy chief of mission at India’s embassy in Israel. Bodwade has been deputed on special duty in Hungary.
The Ministry of External Affairs had on Saturday said that India’s efforts were concentrated to evacuate students from Sumy in eastern Ukraine The ministry’s spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, said at a press conference that the Centre is exploring multiple evacuation routes for the students.
“The main challenge remains the ongoing shelling, ongoing violence and lack of transportation”, said Bagchi. “It’s a problem of a secure and safe way to get them out whilst they are not under threat.”
The spokesperson had on Saturday claimed that no more students were stranded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and that the authorities would be able to evacuate everyone from the neighbouring city of Pisochyn.
On Sunday, Scroll.in learnt from government sources that most students from Kharkiv and Pisochyn have either crossed over to Romania and Poland, or have been brought to Ukraine’s borders with the two nations.
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