India advises its students in Ukraine to leave temporarily as threat of Russian invasion grows

The Indian embassy in Kyiv has asked students to get in touch with respective student contractors for updates on charter flights.

New Delhi: As fear of a Russian invasion looms large, the Indian embassy in Kyiv on Sunday (February 20) urged Indian nationals whose stay is not essential and all Indian students to leave Ukraine temporarily.

It also asked Indian students to get in touch with respective student contractors for updates on charter flights. “In view of continued tensions in Ukraine, all Indian nationals whose stay is not deemed essential and all Indian students are advised to leave Ukraine temporarily,” the advisory read. 

 “Available commercial flights, and charter flights may be availed for travel, for orderly and timely departure,” the embassy said adding that students should continue to follow Embassy Facebook, website and Twitter for any update. 

Earlier on February 15, India had asked its nationals to 'avoid all non-essential travel' to and within Ukraine. It had also asked its nationals in Ukraine, particularly students whose stay is not essential, to 'consider leaving temporarily'.

Besides India, Germany and Austria have also told their citizens to leave Ukraine.

Moreover, intensifying pressure on Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are extending military drills that were concluding on Sunday. This comes as the West has warned of an “imminent” Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is surrounded on three sides by about 150,000 Russian soldiers, warplanes and equipment, PTI reported. 

In another development that stoked the tension, hundreds of artillery shells exploded along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists on Sunday and thousands of people evacuated eastern Ukraine. 

On Saturday, separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine had ordered a full military mobilization and sent more civilians to Russia. The United States and many European countries have been claiming for months that Russia is trying to create pretexts to invade. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to choose a place to meet in order to try to resolve the crisis.

“Ukraine will continue to follow only the diplomatic path for the sake of a peaceful settlement,” Zelenskyy said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. However, there was no immediate response from the Kremlin.

(With agency inputs)