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Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Wednesday, 2 March that 17,000 Indians had left Ukraine since the government issued its first advisory, and that 15 flights were scheduled to take off in the next 24 hours to evacuate those still remaining.
Bagchi also said that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had joined the central government-led Operation Ganga and would be a vital part of the efforts to bring the remaining stranded Indians back to the country.
The first C-17 aircraft deployed by the IAF as part of the operation will return from Bucharest to New Delhi tonight, he said, adding that three more IAF flights would be deployed on Wednesday to bring Indians back from Budapest, Bucharest and Rzeszow in Hungary, Romania and Poland respectively.
Bagchi expressed concern about Eastern Ukraine, which has seen unabated violence since Thursday last week, but added that it was an encouraging sign that "some students were able to board trains out of Kharkiv last night and today morning."
He also added that the government was in constant touch with Russian authorities to facilitate safe passage for Indians, especially from Kharkiv and other high-risk cities.
For those Indians who had lost their passports, Bagchi said a special mechanism was being put in place through which "emergency certificates" would be issued to facilitate their departure.
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