Stay calm, safe wherever you are: Indian embassy in Ukraine to citizens

Ukraine, Feb 24: The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Thursday asked Indians in that country to maintain calm and remain safe wherever they are, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a war on Ukraine.

"The present situation in Ukraine is highly uncertain. Please maintain calm and remain safe wherever you are, be it in your homes, hostels, accommodations or in transit," the Indian embassy said.

"All those who are travelling to Kyiv, including those travelling from western parts of Kyiv, are advised to return to their respective cities. temporarily, especially towards safer places along the western bordering countries," it said.

It said further advisories will be issued for any updates.

They said India is closely monitoring the "rapidly changing" situation in Ukraine and how to assist the Indians in that country.

"We are closely monitoring the rapidly changing situation. Focus is on safety and security of Indians, particularly students," said a source.

It said the control room set by the Ministry of External Affairs a few days back is being expanded and made operational on a 24x7 basis.

There is no possibility of sending special aircraft to Ukraine to evacuate the Indians including the Indian embassy staff as the airspace of Ukraine has been closed. Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights in view of high risk to safety.

"The government is looking at ways to extend assistance to Indians there," said a source.

According to estimates, over 15,000 Indians are currently staying in Ukraine.

It is learnt that a series of meetings are underway to assess the situation and ways to extend assistance to Indians in that country.

The situation in Ukraine deteriorated after President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation into Ukraine, triggering serious concerns over the possibility of a full-scale military confrontation between the two countries.

Following Putin's announcement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said an "invasion" could be the beginning of a "big war" in Europe.