The evacuations of today take the total number of returning stranded nationals to 907 since Russian attack on Ukraine began.
On the second day of India’s airlift mission to bring back nationals from the war-torn country of Ukraine, three evacuation flights brought back 688 people on Sunday. The three Air India flights returns with students and other Indian citizens in Ukraine who had earned safe passage to the Romanian capital Bucharest and Hungarian capital Budapest.
The evacuations of today take the total number of stranded nationals whose return has been facilitated since Russian attack on Ukraine to 907 in 2 days. 219 people returns from Bucharest to Mumbai yesterday on Operation Ganga’s first evacuation flight.
1. Three flights bring back 688 Indians
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Air India flights from Bucharest to Delhi brought back 250 Indian citizens in the early hours of Sunday, followed by 240 around 9:20 am in the morning followed by 198 people at around 5.35 pm in the evening.
2. Union ministers welcome the returnees
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Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muralidharan welcomed the evacuees of the AI1942 flight at the Delhi airport.
3. Why flights from Bucharest and Budapest?
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Amid the Russian attack, Ukraine closed its airspace for civil aviation on the morning of February 24. Indian nationals stranded in the country now have to reach the Ukraine-Romania border and Ukraine-Hungary border, from where they are taken to Bucharest and Budapest. From the two cities, they were brought back to India.
4. Air India plans more evacuation flights
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Air India plans to send two more evacuation flights to Bucharest and Budapest in the coming hours but the plan remains “highly tentative”.
5. How many Indians still stranded in Ukraine
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As per Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, around 13,000 Indians remain stranded in the country. Efforts are underway for their safe and sound return at the earliest.
6. PM Modi in touch with Ukrainian President
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To ensure that all Indian nationals return safely, PM Modi is in touch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, civil aviation minister Scindia told passengers on one of the evacuation flights.
Pics Courtesy: ANI, IANS
