Indian students from Sumy city in Ukraine, one of the last major groups to be evacuated from the country amid the Russian invasion, are expected to be flown back home on Thursday from Poland. The Indian Embassy announced on Wednesday that the students, who had been stranded at Sumy State University in northeast Ukraine, have boarded a special train from Lviv to Poland on the western border.
Indian Ambassador Partha Satpathy flagged off the special train, stating on Twitter, “Ambassador flags off special train with 600 Indian students from Sumy University at Lviv Railway Station. They will travel to Poland and are expected to board evacuation flights to India tomorrow. Be Safe Be Strong.” The embassy also mentioned in another tweet that Ukrainian authorities assisted in arranging the train and that their mission is to continue facilitating the students’ safe return.
One student named Mahtab, who is part of the group heading home, reported over the phone, “We reached Lviv in the afternoon and are on our way to the Poland border.”
Evacuating the students from Sumy posed a significant challenge for the government, which has been conducting evacuations from Ukraine through “Operation Ganga.” As of Tuesday, 83 flights have brought back over 17,100 Indians.
As Operation Ganga nears its completion, the government urged remaining stranded Indians in Ukraine to utilize humanitarian corridors, as another corridor announcement is uncertain. The evacuation from Sumy followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to ensure a safe passage for the students.
Sumy, located 350 km east of Kyiv and 180 km northwest of Kharkiv, has experienced intense hostilities near the Russia border in recent days. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla engaged with Ukrainian and Russian officials to facilitate the evacuation mission.
A coordinated “whole of the government” approach was adopted for the evacuation, with teams in Delhi, Ukraine, and Russia working tirelessly. Approximately 50 Indian officials, including Russian-speaking diplomats, were deployed to Indian embassies in Ukraine, Romania, Poland, and Hungary to oversee the evacuation process.
India’s efforts allowed at least 15 students from various countries to depart Sumy in the Indian convoy.
