Ukraine crisis: Government to bear cost of evacuating Indians

New Delhi, February 25

Air India will operate two flights to Romanian capital Bucharest to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive against it, senior government officials said. The transportation cost, they said, would be borne by the government.

Also read: Don’t move to border posts without coordination with us: Indian embassy in Ukraine

Air India plane departs from Mumbai for Bucharest to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine

Editorial: Expedite evacuation: Move Indian citizens out of Ukraine at the earliest

One flight would leave tonight from Delhi at 9 pm and the other from Mumbai at 10.30 pm. Both the flights are expected to return to their starting points before noon tomorrow, the officials said.

The citizens who have reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road will be taken to Bucharest by Indian officials so that they could be evacuated in the two Air India flights, they said. The officials said the government was focusing on evacuating Indians through Ukraine’s land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania as the Ukrainian government closed the country’s airspace following the Russian military offensive. Nearly 20,000 Indians, mainly students, are currently stranded in the war-torn nation.

2 AI flights to bring back stranded nationals via Bucharest

Border crossings

India is focusing on evacuating its citizens through Ukraine’s land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania

The distance between the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the Romanian border is approximately 600 km and it takes anywhere between 8.5 to 11 hours to cover the distance by road, the officials said. “The distance from the Ukraine-Romania border to Bucharest is 500 km and it takes seven to nine hours to cover the distance by road. The distance between Kyiv and the Hungarian border check point is around 820 km and it takes 12-13 hours to cover it by road,” the official said.

The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Friday said it was working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary. “At present, teams are getting in place at the following check-points: Chop-Zahony Hungarian border near Uzhhorod and Porubne-Siret Romanian border near Chernivtsi,” they said. —