The evacuation of Indian citizens from Sumy began on Tuesday, people familiar with the developments told CNNNews18. More than 600 Indians, mostly students, remain stuck in Sumy where hostilities have surged following Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri also confirmed to news agency PTI that 694 students are onboard buses which are evacuating them from Sumy. They will be taken to Poltava in Ukraine, he further added.
The Ukraine foreign ministry also confirmed that civilians, including foreign students, from Sumy to Poltava are on board buses and are being evacuated.
Indian officials are present in Russia’s Belgorod, ready to receive the students, and from where they are expected to fly back to India via flights under the Operation Ganga rescue mission.
“A humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians, including foreign students, from Sumy to Poltava has been agreed today. We call on Russia to uphold its ceasefire commitment, to refrain from activities that endanger the lives of people and to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry was quoted as saying.
The Russian embassy in India shared the message put out by the Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine which said that humanitarian corridors are being reopened for the safe evacuation of citizens from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Mariupol.
It asked the Ukrainian side to respond to its proposal to which the Ukrainian side responded that the first column with civilians will move towards Poltava from 10am (Ukrainian Local Time).
Earlier, Indian ambassador to the United Nations TS Tirumurti highlighted that despite repeated pleas to administrations of both nations students could not be evacuated from Sumy.
Students stuck in Sumy reached out to CNNNews18, News18 and other news agencies as well urging the government to evacuate them immediately as Russian shelling led to power cuts, water shortage and disruptions to the city’s heating systems. Food and other essential commodities were also scarce as incessant fighting ensured that civilians could not leave bomb shelters.
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