219 Indians Stuck In Ukraine Take Off On Flight To Mumbai, Jaishankar Shares Pics

Mumbai: Indians evacuated to Romania from war-hit Ukraine have taken off onboard a flight to Mumbai, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said while sharing pictures. Evacuees were taken to Bucharest for an alternative route of departure after the Ukrainian airspace shut down due to escalating tension with Russia.

The flight will reach Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 9 pm and evacuation will be done by Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

Jaishankar shared pictures of those evacuated from the plane on Twitter and said that India is making progress in repatriation efforts.

“Regarding evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine, we are making progress. Our teams are working on the ground round the clock. I am personally monitoring. The first flight to Mumbai with 219 Indian nationals has taken off from Romania,” Jaishankar tweeted.

https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1497491336597229571?s=20&t=e97-GBTtpea1YNsLwhdy2g

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the first batch of Indian nationals deported from Ukraine had reached Romania from across the Suseva border.

Meanwhile, a second evacuation flight (AI1942) is expected to return to Delhi early Sunday, along with another 250 Indian nationals, the officials noted.

Air India is ready to operate more flights to Bucharest and Hungarian capital Budapest to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine through alternate routes.

Before closing Ukrainian airspace, Air India operated a flight to Ukraine’s capital Kivy on 22 February, bringing back 240 people.

When Russia invaded its border, more than 20,000 Indians, mainly students, were trapped in Ukraine.

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