Indian Government Confirms To Airlift 8000 Evacuated Indians Under Operation Ganga

A total of 8,000 Indians who were stranded in war-torn Ukraine have been evacuated through Romania, informed the Government of India on Wednesday. As per the government, the last flight will depart from Bucharest today.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday informed that it evacuated all Indian students from Ukraine's Sumy.

Under 'Operation Ganga' to rescue Indian citizens from Ukraine's neighbouring countries, about 18,000 Indians have been brought back by special flights so far.

A total of 410 Indians arrived in India on Tuesday by two special civilian flights from Ukraine's neighbouring countries, said the Ministery of Civil Aviation in a media statement.

With this, about 18,000 stranded Indians in Ukraine have been brought back through special flights which were pressed in services since February 22, 2022.

The number of Indians airlifted by 75 special civilian flights goes up to 15,521. IAF had flown 12 missions to bring back 2,467 passengers, as part of Operation Ganga, and carried over 32-tonne relief material, read the release.

Among the civilian flights, 4,575 passengers have been brought from Bucharest by 21 flights, 1,820 from Suceava by 9 flights, 5,571 from Budapest by 28 flights, 909 passengers by 5 flights from Kosice, 2,404 Indians from Rzeszow by 11 flights, and 242 persons by a flight from Kyiv.

This comes against the backdrop of Russian forces launching military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Stay tuned for further updates.