Shaista Fatima/New Delhi

The Ministry of External Affairs has asked the Indian students stuck in Ukraine that they must move out of their locations only on the directions of the embassy in Kyiv and not venture out on their own.

The MEA has advised students to mail their current status to [email protected] . The help shall reach every Indian citizen and the students must wait for the embassy vehicles for evacuation.

The government of India has already announced to make the evacuation of all the Indians from the war-torn country and bear all the expenses of their flight home.

The MEA has strictly prohibited the students from traveling on their own to the borders and has asked them to wait for further advisories by the Government. This comes in the wake of allegations that some India-based education consultants were asking students for money for arranging chartered flights back home.

While the Indian Government on Friday announced free flight to India sources told Awaz-the Voice that some students had already boarded buses on their expenses from Kyiv to Lviv (bordering Poland) and are waiting for chartered flights to India via Warsaw, Poland. 

One of the consultants while speaking to Awaz-the Voice said, “Students in Kharkiv are in bunkers, they are going out in small groups for food and utilities…so far no untoward incident has happened…”

India’s foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, “The safe routes have been identified. By road, if you go from Kyiv, you would reach Poland in nine hours and Romania in nearly 12 hours. The road has been mapped out.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and highlighted their concerns about the safety of Indian citizens in Ukraine, especially students. During a telephonic conversation, Modi conveyed that India attaches the highest priority to their safe exit and return.