The defence ministry has issued a special advisory for Indians who are yet to exit from the war zone in Ukraine’s Kharkiv which expects them to be prepared for dangerous situations that may emerge in the days ahead.
The advisory lists a series of potentially dangerous scenarios that Indians in Kharkiv need to watch out for. These include missile strikes, artillery shelling, small arms and gunfire, grenade attacks, aerial raids, attacks by aircraft and drones and Molotov cocktails thrown by local people and the militia.
In its advisory, the ministry has laid down a list of following do’s for the students and other Indian citizens stuck in Ukraine. The Indian nationals are advised to remain mentally strong and organise themselves in small groups and squads of ten Indian students on a buddy pair system.
The ministry has also laid down survival guidelines for the nationals, which includes keeping a small kit of essential items like passport, ID cards, medicines, life saving drugs, torches etc.
The students have been advised to conserve food and water, avoid full meals and stay hydrated. Most importantly, the students must delete all unnecessary apps in mobile, limit conversations to low volume/audio mode to conserve battery.
India has been evacuating its citizens from Ukraine’s western neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary and Poland since February 26.
However, a section of Indians — mainly students — are stuck in Kharkiv, which is in eastern Ukraine closer to the Russian border.
A total of 30 flights have been operated and around 6,400 people brought back under Operation Ganga that was launched to evacuate Indian nationals in Ukraine, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the number of Indians who have left Ukraine since advisories were issued was nearly 18,000.
(With inputs from agencies)
