Ex-army chief’s safety tips to Indian students in Ukraine as Russia attacks

Indians in Ukraine are advised to remain in bomb shelters or other safe spaces until arrangements are made for their evacuation and safe return, former Army chief General NC Vij told ANI, as Ukraine remains in conflict with Russia. 

He said, “They (Indians) are in bomb shelters and other places. They should not be moving around on the roadside looking for some arraignment till the time the immigration part is organized, and the embassy tells them about it. When you reach the immigration point, you will be taken care of because there is some arrangement already done on the ground. That is very important”, as per ANI. 

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General Vij, who was the former Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) further told ANI that Indians shouldn’t try moving to Ukraine’s borders on their own. He noted, “They should not in their anxiety move on their own and try and organize it. If they try to organise a bus or any other vehicle that will not work as it will be stopped at many checkpoints”. 

The former army chief was quick to praise India’s efforts to bring back those stranded in Ukraine and lauded the decision to send ministers as special envoys to neighbouring countries to smoothen the evacuation process. ANI quoted him saying, “I must say one thing that we must give full credit to the Government of India for taking so much interest in the rescue and evacuation mission. And the Prime Minister has been heading these meetings himself and they made it very clear that their highest priority is to get the students and the other people out of the country which is a troubled area today. So I think is a very positive sign of what they have done, but there is a lot of work which will have to be done in this and in these four countries plus Moldova”. 

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The ex-general also noted that the ongoing evacuation process has a three-part core problem, as per ANI. He noted, “One is to inform the parents in India that this action is on. The Cabinet Secretary had a meeting with the chief secretaries and he’s telling them and then the parents will be informed. The second part is the evacuation in Ukraine and the third part is at the receiving end, whichever country or the border they are going to. The most difficult part would be the moment within Ukraine”. 

The former military man’s statements come on the same day that an Indian student died of shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.