India asks citizens in Ukraine to ‘not move to any border posts without coordination’

In a fresh advisory, India asked citizens in Ukraine to ‘not move to any border posts without coordination’ while the country is carrying out evacuation work.

“All Indian Citizens in Ukraine are advised to not move to any of the border posts without prior coordination with Government of India officials at the border posts and the Emergency numbers of the Embassy of India,” the Indian Embassy said.

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Earlier, India on Friday grappled with complexities in evacuating its citizens from Ukraine through land border crossings in view of rapidly advancing Russian troops and chaotic ground situation as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the predicament of Indian nationals stranded with his Ukrainian counterpart.

Notwithstanding the difficult ground situation, India managed to set up camp offices in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in western Ukraine to facilitate the transit of Indians to Hungary, Romania and Poland, PTI reported official sources as saying.

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India also positioned teams of officials at Zahony border post in Hungary, Krakowiec as well as Shehyni-Medyka land border points in Poland, Vysne Nemecke in the Slovak Republic and Suceava transit point in Romania to coordinate exit of Indian nationals from Ukraine, they said.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine said over 470 students will exit Ukraine and enter Romania through the Porubne-Siret border on Friday and that it is moving them to neighbouring countries for onward evacuation.

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It said that the “massive evacuation” operation was organised through the joint efforts of Indian embassies in Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Hungary and that efforts are underway to relocate Indians coming in from the hinterland.

As India stepped up efforts to evacuate around 16,000 of its citizens, mostly students, Jaishankar, during a phone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed the predicament of the Indian nationals and appreciate his support for their safe return.

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“Received call from Ukrainian FM @DmytroKuleba. He shared his assessment of the current situation.I emphasised that India supports diplomacy & dialogue as the way out,” Jaishankar tweeted.

“Discussed predicament of Indian nationals, including students. Appreciate his support for their safe return,” he added.

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India is trying to evacuate its nationals through Ukraine’s land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Ukrainian government closed the country’s airspace following the Russian military offensive.