New Delhi: Almost 16,000 Indians, mostly students, are presently stranded in Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the east European country entered its second day on Friday. Of the students, many studying medicine in Kharkiv and Kyiv, about 2,500 are from Gujarat and 2,320 from Kerala.
As tensions escalated in Ukraine and worried families back home counted the hours till their children returned, several state governments requested the Centre to make immediate arrangements for their safe evacuation.
The Tamil Nadu government estimates around 5,000 students and emigrants from the state are stranded in Ukraine. It announced that it would bear all expenses related to the return of the students.
Around 1,200 students from Maharashtra and 100 residents, including 70 students, of Chhattisgarh are stuck. Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani said Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was in touch with the Centre to ensure the safe return of around 2,500 stranded students to the state.
Madhya Pradesh Home Secretary Gaurav Rajput said parents of 87 students stranded in Ukraine have contacted the chief minister's helpline for assistance. While the number of Goans stuck in the war-torn country was not immediately available, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has written to the Centre seeking help in their safe return.
Around 600-800 students from Rajasthan, and nearly 130 from Himachal Pradesh are also stuck. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take necessary measures to facilitate the safe return of the people from the state.
While Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said around 2,000 people from the state are stranded in Ukraine and needed to be rescued, the count from Uttarakhand is around 85, as per inputs received so far.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has written to Jaishankar requesting the central government to make immediate arrangements for the safe evacuation of Indians, including Punjabis, stuck in Ukraine.
The Karnataka government stated that 346 people from the state are stuck in Ukraine, and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he has requested the external affairs minister to make necessary arrangements like food for the stranded students.
The Telangana government urged the Centre to arrange special aircraft to bring back students from the state who are stranded in Ukraine, and said it is ready to bear the full travel expenses of their evacuation.
Concerned about the safety of thousands of Malayalis, especially students, trapped in the war-torn country, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the State Assembly V D Satheesan have written to the external affairs minister separately, seeking their safe repatriation.
Around 170 people from Andhra Pradesh and eight from Puducherry are stuck as well. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to evacuate the students stranded in Ukraine.
Close to 1,500 students from Odisha are stranded too. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure their safe evacuation. Most of them are pursuing medical courses at the National Medical University in Kharkiv and the Kyiv Medical University.
Approximately, 1,500 students from West Bengal are stuck in Ukraine, an education department official said. The state has set up a control room to help the stranded students and their families.
There are around 100 students each from Assam and Jharkhand who are stranded in Ukraine. On appeals from parents of some of them, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has urged the Centre to help them return safely.
Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said his government was coordinating with the Centre to bring back 20 students from the state who are stranded in the crisis-hit country.
In Rajasthan, around 3,155 people are stuck in Ukraine, out of which 850 are students. So far 100 students have returned from the war-torn country. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted out, "Thousands of Indians including hundreds of Rajasthanis are trapped in Ukraine in this situation, most of them are students. I hope that the Indian Embassy will be successful in evacuating Indians through alternate routes to Hungary and Poland." Mahendra, a student from Nagaur studying in Ukraine, urged the Rajasthan government and the government of India to help him and other students return to India. "Indian students are worst-affected by the war between Ukraine and Russia and hence the state and Central governments should work to bring us back soon," he tagged @PMO and @RajCMO in his twèet.
While many state have given their estimates of people stranded in the eastern European country, smaller states and UTs have not.
Even as plans are in the works to evacuate them safely, senior government officials said Air India is planning to operate two flights to Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday to bring back Indian nationals who have reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road.
The stranded students face the risk of running out of food, water and cash as they take shelter in underground bunkers and tunnels, awaiting information from the Indian embassy about evacuation processes.
On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days.
He said the government has asked Indian ambassadors in countries neighbouring Ukraine to send teams from their missions to border areas to facilitate the exit of Indians so that they can be evacuated to India.
The Ukrainian airspace was closed for civil aircraft operations by the country's authorities on Thursday morning and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest.
(With agency inputs)
