A day after the Embassy of India in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv asked Indians to temporarily leave the country in light of a potential Russian invasion, the embassy on Wednesday, 16 February, urged them not to panic over reports of people not getting flight tickets, assuring them that more flights were being arranged.
On Tuesday, in an advisory for Indian nationals in Ukraine, the Embassy of India had asked Indians, "particularly students whose stay is not essential," to temporarily leave Ukraine in light of a potential Russian invasion of the country.
On Wednesday, the embassy said in a tweet, "Embassy of India has been receiving several appeals about non-availability of flights from Ukraine to India. In this regard, students are advised not to resort to panic, but book the earliest available and convenient flights to travel to India."
"At present, Ukrainian International Airlines, Air Arabia, Fly Dubai, Qatar Airways etc are operating flights," it said.
The embassy further said that "more flights are being planned in the near future," including those of Air India and Ukrainian International Airlines.
MEA Sets Up 24-Hour Helpline
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India's 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.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday that military drills in Crimea would be ending, reported news agency AFP.
The move is significant in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis because it comes one day after the Russian government reportedly ordered its troops to retreat to its bases at the Ukrainian borders.
Tensions between Russia, Ukraine, NATO, and the US have been simmering for months now.
You can read about them in detail here.
The United States and the United Kingdom have also asked citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible, with the US warning on 14 February that Russia could invade "with little or no warning."
More than 100,000 Russian troops have been mobilised around the Ukrainian border.
Russia has three key demands from NATO:
The removal of NATO troops from Eastern European countries that joined after 1997
A guarantee that NATO would never induct Ukraine
An assurance that NATO countries will not install missile systems on Russia’s borders
Ukraine, on the other hand, refused to rule out the possibility of joining NATO in order to avoid war with Russia.
In 2019, the Ukrainian Constitution was amended to include Article 85, clause 5, that emphasises on the "realisation of the strategic course of the state on acquiring full-fledged membership of Ukraine in the European Union and in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation."
(This is a developing story. More details are awaited.)
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