New Delhi: Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Indian government launched an operation to bring back stranded Indian nationals, including students, from the war-torn country.  The mission, named 'Operation Ganga', also provides humanitarian assistance to Indian nationals who have crossed over to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine, which include Romania, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, and Slovakia. 


Operation Ganga is planned by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Indian Armed Forces.  Airlines including Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India Express have also joined the mission.


A dedicated Twitter account (@opganga) has been set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine through Operation Ganga. 


Also, Control Centres, which operate 24×7, have been set up throughout the border crossing points with Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. The evacuation flights are free of cost, 


Four Union ministers are in Ukraine's neighbouring countries to expedite evacuation. Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, is currently in Hungary. Meanwhile, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, is in Romania. 


General Vijay Kumar Singh, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, is in Poland. 


Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Law and Justice, is in Slovakia, to expedite evacuation through Operation Ganga.


Following Russia's attack on Ukraine, the Embassy of India in Kyiv, Ukraine issued an advisory for the students stranded without a place to stay in Kyiv. The Indian Embassy asked the students to not leave their homes unless necessary and carry their documents with them at all times. The first step under Operation Ganga was taken on February 26.


Arindam Bagchi, official Spokesperson of the Union Ministry of External Affairs, said Thursday that 30 flights under Operation Ganga have brought back 6,400 Indians from Ukraine so far, news agency ANI reported.


Here is a timeline of the events under Operation Ganga since its launch.


February 26: The first batch of Indian students who were stranded in Ukraine arrived at Mumbai airport in the evening of February 26. An Air India flight brought the Indians from Bucharest, Romania, to Mumbai.


According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the first batch comprised 219 Indian nationals. 


The second evacuation flight from Bucharest arrived at Indira Gandhi international Airport, New Delhi, with almost 250 Indian students. The students reached Delhi Airport early morning, from Bucharest, on an Air India flight, at 3 am IST.


February 27: The third flight under Operation Ganga, with 240 Indian nationals, took off from Budapest, Hungary, early morning on February 27. In a tweet, Dr S Jaishankar, Union Minister of External Affairs, thanked his Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó.


The fourth flight under the operation brought 198 Indian nationals from Bucharest to Delhi. 


February 28: The fifth evacuation flight under Operation Ganga, carrying 249 Indian nationals from Bucharest, reached Delhi on February 28. 


On the same day, the sixth evacuation flight under the mission brought 240 Indian nationals from Budapest to Delhi. 


As many as 182 Indian nationals started their return journey from Bucharest to Mumbai, the same day. This was the seventh flight under Operation Ganga.


March 1: The Embassy of India in Kyiv, Ukraine, said Wednesday that the westward movement of more than 1,400 Indian students out of Zaporizhzhia city in south-eastern Ukraine had been facilitated. 


The Embassy also tweeted on Wednesday that 400 students housed near the Embassy since February 24 had left Kyiv by train through the efforts of Operation Ganga. Also, the movement of more than 1,000 Indian students from Kyiv towards Western Ukraine was ensured. 


The Indian Embassy also advised all Indian nationals, including students, to leave Kyiv urgently, preferably by available trains, or through any means available.


In an advisory dated March 1, the Embassy of Indian in Warsaw, Poland, said that Indians in Lviv and Ternopil and other places in western Ukraine may travel at the earliest to Budomierz border check-point for a relatively quick entry in Poland. The Embassy advised the Indians to travel south via Hungary or Romania, and asked them to avoid Shehyni-Medyka border crossing which continues to be congested.


The eighth flight under Operation Ganga brought 216 Indian nationals from Budapest to New Delhi. 


On the same day, the ninth evacuation flight carrying 218 Indian nationals from Bucharest reached New Delhi.


March 2: In an advisory dated March 2, the Embassy of India in Kyiv, Ukraine, asked all Indian nationals in Kharkiv to leave the place immediately in the light of the deteriorating situation. They were advised to proceed to Pesochin, Babaye, and Bezlyudokva as soon as possible. 


Jaishankar said in a tweet Wednesday that six flights had departed for India in the last 24 hours. These included the first flights from Poland. 


Jaishankar said that flights were carrying more than 1,377 Indian nationals from Ukraine.


The Union Minister said in a tweet late Wednesday that as many as nine flights had taken off from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Poland under Operation Ganga. These included IAF aircraft. 


Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet Wednesday that five flights flew 1136 Indian students from Budapest to Delhi between February 26 and March 1.


The IAF said Wednesday that it has deployed four C-17 aircraft to supply relief material and evacuate Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Poland, and Hungary, as part of the ongoing Operation Ganga.


March 3: The IAF's first evacuation flight with 200 Indians landed in Delhi earlier in the day.


The IAF said that the first IAF C-17 returned to Hindan air base near Delhi, from Bucharest, on March 3, at 1:00 am IST. The aircraft carried 200 passengers, mostly students, the IAF said in a tweet.


On Thursday, the first four IAF C-17 aircraft under Operation Ganga evacuated 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary and Poland, the Indian Air Force said in a tweet. They also supplied 9.7 tonnes of relief material. 






The IAF also tweeted that three more IAF C-17 aircraft have taken off from Romania, Hungary, and Poland today. It also shared the video of a C-17 taking off from Budapest.


Jyotiraditya Scindia said Thursday that 3276 Indians are returning home today. In a tweet, he mentioned that Indians are returning home from Bucharest, Suceava, Kosice, Budapest, and Rzeszow respectively.


Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing Thursday that fifteen flights landed in India during the last 24 hours, bringing back more than 3,000 Indians, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.


He said that a total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the first advisory was issued, ANI reported.


UKRAINE-RUSSIA CONFLICT: FULL COVERAGE


What Is Next For Operation Ganga?


The Indian government has roped in more than two dozen Ministers to monitor smooth evacuation and receive Indians who are returning from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Poland, under Operation Ganga, at the Delhi and Mumbai airports, sources told ANI on Thursday.


Scindia, who is currently in Romania, said Thursday that eight flights will arrive in Bucharest today and will take around 1,800 citizens to India, ANI reported. Scindia said that yesterday, six flights carrying around 1,300 citizens left from Bucharest. 


He further said that he is heading towards border point Siret. More than 1,000 students are in Siret, the minister said.


Scindia said that Suceava is a nearby airport to Siret. Therefore, two IndiGo flights are coming to Suceava today and will take around 450 students back to India. Tomorrow, four flights will come to Suceava and will carry 900 to 1,000 students, Scindia said.


The government has accelerated the evacuation plan for Indians stranded in Ukraine, by increasing the number of flights to bring back more Indian nationals, under Operation Ganga, ANI reported Thursday.


By March 10, a total of 80 flights will be pressed into service, to evacuate Indians from the neighbouring countries of Ukraine.  These flights will be provided by Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Vistara, and Go Air. The IAF will also provide its aircraft.


As many as 35 evacuations have been planned from Bucharest, ANI reported. Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and Vistara will provide fourteen, eight, seven, and three flights respectively, to carry out the evacuations. SpiceJet will provide one flight. The IAF will provide two aircraft to evacuate Indians from Bucharest, the capital of Romania.


According to the report, a total of 28 flights are scheduled to take off from Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Of these, Go Air will provide 15 flights. IndiGo and Air India will provide nine and two flights respectively. Both SpiceJet and the IAF will provide one flight each. 


A total of nine flights are scheduled from Rzeszow, Poland. These include eight flights being provided by IndiGo, and one being provided by the IAF. 


Meanwhile, five flights are scheduled to take off from Suceava, Romania, and three flights from Kosice, Slovakia.


Approximately 17,000 stranded Indians will be evacuated from Ukraine via the flights scheduled to take off from Budapest, Bucharest, Rzeszow, Suceava, and Kosice, ANI reported.


Bagchi said in the media briefing Thursday that in the next 24 hours, 18 flights have been scheduled. He also said that the Indian side is in touch with both Ukrainian and Russian authorities, and is closely following the developments in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine.