Anonna Dutt
Under Operation Ganga, 201 Indian citizens and two dogs were safely rescued from Ukraine and brought to India through C-17 Globemaster. Among the civilians to be safely rescued are Harjot Singh, who was shot in Ukraine. Indian citizens were safely evacuated from the border of Poland.
On Monday, about 3 thousand people were rescued and brought to India through the Poland border under Operation Ganga. As soon as the C-17 aircraft reached the airport, an ambulance arrived there and Harjot Singh was taken to the Army Research and Referral Hospital in Dhaulakuan through an ambulance. Union Minister VK Singh (who was sitting in the same flight) said, “Harjot is fine. There was some delay in their evacuation as Vinnytsia airport was attacked, causing heavy traffic jams. After a lot of effort, our embassy from Ukraine was successful in getting them out. He had reached the airport around 4.30 pm.”
The Union Minister further said that, “He has been sent to Research and Referral Hospital. No one can treat a bullet wound better than the Army Hospital. Union Minister VK Singh said that, “If more people reach the border of Ukraine, then the embassy officials have been left at the border. Now Indians have been evacuated from most cities except the north eastern city of Sumi.
By the time this flight took off, we had evacuated 3,000 kids. Not many people were coming. Even we stopped the plane for the intruders. There may be some children who have not come, so there should be embassy people at the border check-post, so that if someone comes, they can be brought home. No announcement has been made on any termination of operations. But I had to bring back all the students who reached us till the end. So, I have taken the last flight from Poland,” said VK Singh.
Union Minister VK Singh said, “By the time this flight took off, we had evacuated 3000 children. Not many people are coming now. Even the plane was stopped for other people. It may also happen that some children have not come, so the people of the embassy are present at the border check-post, so that if anyone comes, they can be removed. The termination of the operation has not been announced. But I had to bring back all the students who have reached the end. That’s why I took the last flight out of Poland.”
Akhil from Kerala was also on the plane, who traveled with his 1.6-year-old pet named Hutchiko. He was stranded in Kharkiv for more than five days before walking 10 kilometers to the train station with his dog on March 1. Even though Akhil was afraid of the bombings, he did not leave Kharkiv until he learned that rescue planes were being allowed to evacuate the animals.
Akhil told that, “He (Hutchiko) is a part of my family. We can’t leave him behind. Due to lack of food, he remained hungry for 3 days, when we went out and took milk and bread, then he woke up. If there was food, I would have got it first, I ate whatever was left.
Ajay Kumar of Bihar would have completed his medical education in June this year. But Ajay Kumar stayed there for 7 days to help his fellow medical students. He left the capital Kyiv 4 days after the start of the war. Ajay Kumar, who reached India safely, said, “It was quite scary. I lived on the top floor of my building. This building is most likely to be hit by a missile. Airstrike, sirens and running till 200 meters away was scary.”