In its third advisory, the Embassy of India in Kyiv on Tuesday, 22 February, once again asked students to temporarily leave Ukraine, amid rising tensions with Russia.
This comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognised Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent States.
The Embassy of India said in its advisory, “Embassy of India is receiving a large number of calls asking about the confirmation of online classes by medical universities. In this regard, as informed earlier, Embassy is engaged with respective authorities for streamlining of education process for Indian students.”
The advisory added, “Students are advised, in the interest of their safety, to leave Ukraine temporarily, rather than wait for an official confirmation from universities.”
A day after India's Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) had removed the restriction on a number of flights between India and Ukraine under the air bubble arrangement, Air India on Friday, 18 February, announced that it will operate three Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights between India and Ukraine on 22, 24, and 26 February for Indians stranded in Ukraine amid the border crisis with Russia.
Last week, the Embassy of India in Ukraine had urged Indians in Ukraine not to panic over reports of people not getting flight tickets, assuring them that more flights were being arranged.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine had also set up a 24-hour helpline.
The embassy's handle had tweeted a set of FAQs for Indian citizens currently in Ukraine.
Putin announced his decision to recognise the two breakaway rebel regions in an emotional hour-long televised speech, attacking the West and calling Ukraine a United States colony with "a puppet regime", news agency ANI reported.
Notably, Putin has also instructed the Russian troops to assume "the function of peacekeeping" in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The self-declared people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk host Russia-backed rebels who have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
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