From Moscow, with love: In a first, Russia helps Indians flee Ukraine

Russian forces, which have occupied the city of Kherson, assisted in evacuating three Indians stranded in Ukraine on Tuesday. This was the first time Russian forces helped in the evacuation of Indians since the invasion began.  

The Indian embassy in Russia announced in a social media post that the three individuals were evacuated via Simferopol and Moscow. “They boarded their flight from Moscow a short while ago”, the tweet read.

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According to reports from Indian Express, two businesspersons and one student were the three individuals who were evacuated. A diplomat at the Indian embassy in Moscow told Indian Express that the student was headed to Chennai, while the businesspersons sought flights to Ahmedabad.

“We facilitated their boarding of a convoy of buses to Simferopol and then helped them come to Moscow by train after which they boarded their flight on Tuesday. One was a student who is heading to Chennai. Two were businesspersons who are headed to Ahmedabad”, the Indian diplomat said.

Russian forces took control of Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine near the Crimean peninsula, according to statements from Kremlin late last week. 

So far, more than 22,000 Indian citizens have managed to flee Ukraine since the Russian assault began. Of these, about 17,000 were Indian students who took special evacuation flights. 

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Tuesday’s evacuation also marks the first time Indians fled Ukraine from the Eastern border leading to Russia. So far, all the evacuations were made through western neighbors– Poland, Romania and Hungary. Ukraine closed its airspace to international flights a few days after the invasion began.

Even though this is the first time direct assistance has been extended by Russian troops, the Kremlin holding on to its promise of a ceasefire also reportedly played a part in the Indian evacuation processes.