India’s Operation Ganga will be expanded on Thursday as 19 evacuation flights will operate to rescue 3,726 Indians stuck in Ukraine, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced.

Out of the 19 flights, eight will leave from Bucharest, five from Budapest, two from Suceava, three from Rzeszow and one from Kosice. None of the flights will be taking off from Ukraine as the country has shut down the airspace. 

“With all hands on deck and (under) the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, we will get 3,726 of our people back home today. Jai Hind!”, the civil aviation minister wrote in a social media post while giving the update.

Senior Indian politicians have been on tour to Eastern Europe currently to ensure Operation Ganga runs smoothly.

Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju has been in Slovakia,  General (retd) VK Singh in Poland, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri in Hungary and Scindia in Romania. Operation Ganga, a rescue mission for civilians, was initiated by the Indian government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

So far, about 17,000 Indian citizens have already fled Ukraine. The Indian Air Force also joined the rescue operation earlier this week to bring back stranded Indians. C-17 military transport aircraft of the Air Force were deployed.

Ajay Bhatt, the Minister of State for Defence, said in a statement to ANI, “We are taking care of every student returning from Ukraine. Our four Union Ministers are taking care of every aspect of evacuation operations in different neighbouring countries of Ukraine. Operation Ganga is progressing successfully.”

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar wrote in a social media post on Thursday, “Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland, including IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3,000 Indian nationals.”