Indians in Ukraine: Indian students from Ukraine land in Mumbai airport (AFP)
India will fly at least 46 evacuation flights from countries neighbouring Ukraine. Under the evacuation plan "Operation Ganga", the 46 flights are scheduled till March 8. The Ministry of External Affairs, or MEA, has said arranging flights are not the main concern as more flights would be made available as long as Indians need to be evacuated, but reaching the western Ukraine border from cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv in the east is the main challenge amid the heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
The flights planned are 29 from Bucharest, 10 from Budapest, six from Rzeszow and one from Kocise.
The capacity of the aircraft are Air India (250), Air India Express (180), IndiGo Airlines (216) and SpiceJet (180).
The Indian Air Force will also fly its C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift aircraft to Bucharest.
India will fly at least 46 evacuation flights from countries neighbouring Ukraine till March 8
The Indian embassy in Kyiv has been shut and the staff shifted in view of possible escalation in Russian military action.
There were an estimated 20,000 Indian students in Ukraine when the government issued its first advisory. From that number, approximately 12,000 have since left Ukraine, which is 60 per cent of the total, the government has said.