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New Delhi, March 5 (PTI): Three IAF aircraft carrying 629 Indians from Ukraine's neighbouring countries landed at the Hindon air base here on Saturday morning, the air force said. India has been evacuating its citizens from war-torn Ukraine's neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.
"Till date, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has flown 10 sorties to bring back 2,056 passengers, while taking 26 tonnes of relief load to these countries, as part of Operation Ganga," the IAF statement said.
hree C-17 heavy lift transport aircraft of the IAF which had taken off on Friday from the Hindon air base returned on Saturday morning, it mentioned.
"These flights evacuated 629 Indian nationals from Romania, Slovakia and Poland. These flights also carried 16.5 tonnes of relief load from India to these countries," the statement added.
Exploring all possible ways to evacuate Indians from Sumy — Embassy
The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Saturday said it is exploring all possible ways to safely evacuate the Indian nationals from eastern Ukranian city of Sumy.
The mission said it is in touch with all interlocutors concerned, including the Red Cross, to identify the exit routes to take out the Indians.
Sumy is one of the conflict zones witnessing intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
"Exploring all possible mechanisms to evacuate Indian citizens in Sumy, safely & securely. Discussed evacuation & identification of exit routes with all interlocutors including Red Cross," the embassy tweeted.
"Control room will continue to be active until all our citizens are evacuated.
Be Safe Be Strong," it said.
Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said on Friday that around 700 Indians are stranded in Sumy.
At a media briefing, Bagchi also urged both the Ukrainian and Russian sides to put in place a "local ceasefire" for evacuation of Indians from the conflict zones including Kharkiv and Sumy.
He said India is primarily focusing on evacuating its nationals out of the conflict zones in eastern Ukraine including from Kharkiv and Sumy, adding that the total number of Indians stuck in Ukraine could be roughly in the range of 2,000 to 3,000.