Ukraine: PM Modi decides to send Union Ministers to coordinate evacuation of Indians

New Delhi, Feb 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on an urgent high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis today.

Government sources tell OneIndia that Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen. V K Singh will travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students. These Ministers will be going as Special Envoys of India, the source also said. The ministers will leave for the countries bordering Ukraine tonight.

Jyotiraditya Scindia will look at Romania and Moldova while Kiren Rijiju will go to Slovakia. Hardeep Singh Puri will go to Hungary and Gen Singh will be at Poland to manage the evacuation.

This operation is important since there are 3,000 Indians stranded at the border waiting to cross over into the Poland border.

Meanwhile PM Modi is expected convene a third meeting on the evacuation this evening.

As many as 688 Indian nationals returned here on Sunday from strife-torn Ukraine on board three Air India evacuation flights from Romanian capital Bucharest and Hungarian capital Budapest.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that approximately 13,000 Indians are stranded in Ukraine as of now, and the government is making efforts to bring them back as soon as possible.

Following the Russian military offensive against Ukraine, India has brought back a total of 907 stranded citizens from that country since Saturday when the first evacuation flight from Bucharest with 219 people on board landed in Mumbai under Operation Ganga.

The second flight (AI1942) departed from Bucharest with 250 Indian citizens and landed at the Delhi airport around 2.45 AM on Sunday, officials said.

With 240 Indian nationals on board, the third evacuation flight from Bucharest landed at the Delhi airport around 9.20 AM on Sunday, followed by another Tata Group-run carrier's flight from Bucharest with 198 Indian nationals at 5.35 PM.

(With PTI inputs)