Indian Embassy in Ukraine Asks Indians to Leave ‘At the Earliest’

Ukraine has restricted electricity usage nationwide for the first time today following a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks that have destroyed some power plants just before the cold winter months set in.

New Delhi: The Indian embassy in Ukraine has issued a fresh advisory asking Indian citizens currently in the country to leave Ukraine “at the earliest by available means.”

“In view of the deteriorating security situation and recent escalation of hostilities across Ukraine, Indian nationals are advised against travelling to Ukraine,” the Indian embassy also said.

India’s new advisory recalls a time earlier this year when hourly advisories were being issued as the war first broke out in the region, stranding thousands of Indians, especially students.

In March, an Indian student was killed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Another Indian national who had received three bullet injuries in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, was evacuated through Poland.

Requests for rescue had populated social media then, with students initially stuck at border points. Many were forced to walk miles in the cold, in the absence of viable transport.

The Indian Air Force’s rescue mission, Operation Ganga, eventually brought back a majority of them on C-17 aircraft.

Ukraine has restricted electricity usage nationwide for the first time today following a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks that have destroyed some power plants just before the cold winter months set in.

A Russian missile strike hit a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine, the region’s governor said.

Russian president Vladimir Putin meanwhile ordered all of Russia to support the war effort in Ukraine on Wednesday, October 19, as the Russian-appointed administration of Kherson prepared to evacuate the only regional capital Moscow has captured during its invasion.

Russia has also said it will reassess cooperation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres if he sends experts to Ukraine to inspect drones that Western powers say were made in Iran and used by Moscow in violation of a UN resolution.

(With Reuters inputs)

Source – https://thewire.in/diplomacy/indian-embassy-in-ukraine-asks-indians-to-leave-at-the-earliest