Indian embassy in Ukraine to be recolated to Poland: Govt

New Delhi, Mar 13: The Indian embassy in Ukraine is being temporarily shifted to Poland in view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country including the Russian military offensive in its western region. The decision comes as Russian troops are closing in on key Ukrainian cities and towns including the capital Kyiv.

"In view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Ukraine, including attacks in the western parts of the country, it has been decided that the Indian Embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily relocated to Poland," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

"The situation will be reassessed in the light of further developments," it said in a brief statement. A significant number of officials in the Indian embassy in Kyiv was already working from its camp office in Lviv for the last few days. The camp office of the embassy was set up in Lviv as part of efforts to evacuate Indian citizens from Ukraine through land border crossings. Lviv is a city in western Ukraine that is around 70 kilometres from the border with Poland.

India, which launched evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' to bring back stranded Indians from Ukraine since its launched on February 26, has brought back over 18,100 of its nationals. India evacuated its nationals from Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova after they crossed over to these countries from Ukraine through land border transit points. Ukraine had closed its airspace for civilian aircraft after Russia began the military operation.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security that reviewed India's security preparedness, and the prevailing global scenario in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. PTI