Evacuation from Sumy remains a challenge for Indian authorities
Indian students, who have been stranded at a medical college hostel in embattled northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, have been told to "be ready to leave on short notice" by the Indian Embassy. A team is stationed in Poltava - nearly a three-hour drive from Sumy - to coordinate the safe passage of the students, it said on Sunday.
As evacuation from the shelling-battered city remains a challenge for the authorities, the students said they could no longer cope with the nail-biting cold, depleting food supplies and having to melt snow to get drinking water.
"The main challenges in evacuation of Indians from Sumy are ongoing shelling, violence and the lack of transportation," the foreign ministry said on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, the stranded students shared videos saying they have decided to take a risky journey to the Russian border that's 50 kilometres away. They, however, decided to stay put after the government contacted them and advised to "avoid unnecessary risks".
India has been urging Ukraine and Russia to impose a ceasefire in the northeastern Ukrainian city to evacuate around 700 students, trapped after Russian troops invaded Ukraine in late February, with their evacuation hampered because of fighting in the area, foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters.
India has brought back over 15,920 of its nationals in 76 flights under mission "Operation Ganga" which was launched on February 26.