Ukraine Invasion: All 694 Indian Students Stranded In Sumy Moved Out, Says MEA

The evacuation efforts in Sumy, for an estimated 700 Indian students, were put on hold because of shellings and the disputes between Kyiv and Moscow on the routes of evacuations.

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said all Indian students stranded in Ukraine's Sumy were moved out and were en route to Poltava -- a Ukrainian city 175 km to the south.

"Happy to inform that we have been able to move out all Indian students from Sumy. They are currently en route to Poltava, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine. Flights under Operation Ganga are being prepared to bring them home," the MEA said.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Singh Puri also said the evacuation process for Indian students stranded in Sumy had started and they were being been taken in buses to Poltava.

The development comes after Indian regretted that a safe corridor has not been set up for students trapped in Sumy despite appeals to Russia and Ukraine.

"Last night, I checked with the control room, 694 Indian students were remaining in Sumy. Today, they have all left in buses for Poltava," news agency PTI quoted Puri as saying.

A medical student at the Sumy university, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed that buses have arrived and students have started boarding the buses.

"We have been told that we will go to Poltava. I am praying that we reach a safe zone and this misery is over," he told PTI from Sumy.

According to reports, the evacuation efforts in Sumy, for an estimated 700 Indian students, were put on hold because of shellings and the disputes between Kyiv and Moscow on the routes of evacuations.

Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out attacks on Sumy among other places to prevent evacuations.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday discussed with the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine ways to resume the evacuation process of Indian students stranded in Ukraine's besieged Sumy city.

Earlier in the day, Russian Defence Ministry announced the opening of humanitarian corridors from the five major cities of Ukraine including Kyiv, Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov, Mariupol for evacuation of civilians amid the ongoing war. 

"In order to safely evacuate civilians from settlements, a ceasefire is introduced today from 10 a.m. (about 12.30 p.m. IST) and humanitarian corridors from Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov and Mariupol are opened," Sputnik News quoted Russian Defence Ministry's official representative Major General Igor Konashenkov as saying.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk informed that both sides have agreed to a cease-fire from 9 am-9 pm Ukraine time (0700-1900 GMT) for the evacuation of civilians from the eastern city of Sumy.

Those being evacuated from Sumy include foreign students from India and China, she said.