Success of Operation Ganga: 16,000 Indians evacuated from Ukraine so far, says Jyotiraditya Scindia

The tensions between Ukraine and Russia are at their peak, with the latter constantly bombarding the Ukrainian cities with shelling, leading to war-like conditions in the country. In the midst of the current situation, the Indian government decided to evacuate its nations from Ukraine.

The Centre is currently conducting Operation Ganga, through which it is bringing back all the citizens and students who had gone to Ukraine. Back-to-back flights have been flying from countries neighbouring Ukraine, while governments are helping the nationals cross the border.

Giving an update on the situation, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Sunday that nearly 16,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated out of Ukraine under Operation Ganga so far, making it a success till now.

Over 2,000 Indian citizens were brought back to the country on Sunday through 11 special flights which took off from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. Nine of the special flights landed in New Delhi while two of the flights landed in Mumbai.

Union Ministry of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, in an official statement, said, “The number of Indians airlifted by 66 special civilian flights goes up to 13,852. To date, the IAF 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.”

Out of the total 11 flights that flew out Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine, six flights from Budapest, two from Bucharest, two from Rzeszow and one from Kosice. The Indian government had scheduled a total of 46 flights to bring back citizens till March 8.

Further, eight special flights carrying Indian citizens from Ukraine are set to fly out on Monday. Five flights will be operating from Budapest, two flights from Secuva and one flight from Bucharest, bringing back a total of 1,500 Indian nationals.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine was heightened during the last week of February, when Russian forces entered the border of Ukraine, and launched a series of attacks on its cities in an effort to invade the country.