Ukraine crisis: How is India's evacuation ops better organised than US, China and UK?

Under Operation Ganga, the mission to evacuate the stranded Indians from Ukraine, India has so far brought back over 1,100 citizens from Ukraine.

New Delhi: Russia last week invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea and confirmed the West's worst fears with the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II. 

Ukraine's health ministry said on Sunday (February 27) that 352 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. It also said that 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded so far.

Over the past few weeks, several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India have been trying to evacuate their nationals from the war-torn country. According to data from Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science, around 80,000 international students study in Ukraine with Indians making up about a quarter of the total foreign students. Students from Morocco, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Nigeria also turn up in large numbers.

Here's a look at what US, UK, China and India are doing to evacuate their citizens from Ukraine 

UNITED STATES

The US has issued an advisory for its citizens to depart using 'privately available transportation options if it is safe to do so' and have explicitly said that the government will not be able to evacuate them. The US Embassy released an online form on February 22 listing local (Ukraine) and international (US-based) phone numbers for communication. The list includes all the border crossings and phone numbers of embassy people at various borders and specific locations where US citizens can cross. They have encouraged their citizens to enrol in the STEP enrollment for security updates and easy communication in an emergency. 

On February 27, the Joe Biden government said that the US citizens should consider leaving Russia immediately on commercial flights, citing an increasing number of airlines cancelling flights and countries closing their airspace to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

"US citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available," said a security alert. It also asked US citizens to have "a contingency plan that does not rely on US government assistance."

CHINA

On February 24, China announced chartered flights for its 6,000 stranded nationals in Ukraine and requested its citizens leaving Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, to display signs of identification, such as the Chinese flag. 

However, two days later, the Chinese embassy urged its citizens to refrain from displaying signs of identification. On February 27, the Chinese ambassador to Ukraine released a video message urging Chinese citizens to "not quarrel with locals", after a number of unverified social media claims of rising hostility towards Chinese citizens.  

China has now postponed their evacuation plans stating that the current conditions were 'too unsafe to evacuate'. They have also not issued any travel advisories or support mechanisms. 

UNITED KINGDOM

The UK had issued its first advisory on February 17 and then updated it on February 27, in which, the Boris Johnson-led government stated that "Russia’s military action in Ukraine will severely affect the British Government’s ability to provide consular assistance in Ukraine". The government further asserted that it will not be able to provide increased support to its citizens stranded in Ukraine. 

The UK government has released contact numbers of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and has also relocated the British Embassy office in Kyiv temporarily to Lviv. Britain has asked its nationals to follow the advice of Ukrainian authorities with no additional assistance. 

INDIA

India has planned to send its four senior ministers to Ukraine's border nations to help in the rescue of thousands of its citizens who remain trapped more than four days after Russia's invasion of the country. Amid rising concerns about the safety of around 16,000 Indians still in Ukraine, most of them students, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met senior officials on February 28 to discuss evacuation efforts.

Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh will travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation.

Late on Sunday night, India's embassy in Poland had also issued an advisory, saying it had arranged for buses at the Shehyni border in Ukraine, for those stranded there, to cross over into Poland.

Under Operation Ganga, the mission to evacuate the stranded Indians from Ukraine, as many as 1156 Indians have been brought back home from Ukraine.

The Modi government has also revised its international travel advisory, providing various exemptions to Indians being evacuated from Ukraine. Indians being evacuated have been exempted from mandatory pre-boarding Covid-19 negative RTPCR test and vaccination certificate as well as uploading of documents before departure on Air-Suvidha Portal. In case a traveller is not able to submit a pre-arrival RTPCR test or has not completed their Covid-19 vaccination, they are allowed to submit their samples on arrival with the advice to self-monitor their health for 14 days after arrival in India.

India has also set up round-the-clock "control centres" in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine through border-crossing points with these countries.

The helpline numbers of the control room in Poland are: +48225400000, +48795850877 and +48792712511. Those requiring help can also write an email to controlroominwarsaw@gmail.com.

The helpline numbers of the control room in Romania are: +40732124309, +40771632567, +40745161631 and +40741528123. The email address for contacting the control room in Romania is controlroombucharest@gmail.com.

The helpline numbers of the control room in Hungary are: +36 308517373, +36 13257742 and +36 13257743. It also has a WhatsApp number: +36 308517373 for assistance.

The helpline numbers of the control room in Slovakia are: +421 252631377, +421 252962916 and +421 951697560. The email address is hoc.Bratislava@mea.gov.in.

India's evacuation programme Operation Ganga has been the most active among all nations which have their citizens in Ukraine.

(With agency inputs)