The Russian army continues to bombard Ukraine. Due to which many of its cities have been destroyed. According to Ukraine’s allegation, Russia has dropped a 500 kg bomb on the city of Sumi. In which 18 people have died. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on all Russian imports of gas, oil and energy.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said on Tuesday that 410 Indians have been airlifted from Sushiva through two special civilian aircraft as part of Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine from neighboring countries. Since the start of special flights on February 22, 18 thousand Indians have been brought back to the country.
The Government of India has informed that the process of evacuating Indian students trapped in Sumi has now started. Union Minister Hardeep Puri said on Tuesday that the students trapped in Sumi are being evacuated and taken to another place.
At the same time, in the midst of the war, President of Ukraine Zelensky has released a video saying that I have not gone anywhere, I am only in Kyiv. He has said in the video message that we are trying our best to win the war. In fact, it was being claimed by the Russian media that Zelensky had fled Ukraine. In such a situation, he has now released a video of himself saying that I am not hiding anywhere and am in Bonkova, Kyiv.
The third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Belarus failed to yield any significant results. Mykhailo Podolik, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said some progress had been made in the talks to improve the logistics of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. Podolik, an adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s head of office, said in-depth consultations are continuing on the main political bloc of the deal, along with a ceasefire and security guarantees.
On Monday, a last-minute ban was imposed on the evacuation of nearly 600 Indian students at Sumy State University in north-eastern Ukraine. In this regard, the Indian Embassy had reportedly informed the college that it would not be safe to start the journey on the Romanian border due to security reasons.
India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti said at the UNSC meeting, “More than 80 evacuation flights have been carried out to bring Indians back home in the evacuation operation. We appreciate the assistance provided by the authorities of Ukraine and its neighboring countries in facilitating the Indians during this time.”
Apart from this, humanitarian aid is also being sent to Ukraine from India. India’s representative at the UNSC meeting on Monday, T.S. Tirumurti informed that India has already sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine and its neighboring countries. These include medicines, tents, water storage tanks, other relief materials. We are in the process of identifying and dispatching other requirements.
Tirumurti said that we have reiterated our much-needed demand for safe passage for all citizens including Indians. We are deeply concerned that a safe passage has not been created for our students in Sumi, despite repeated requests from both sides.