The government of India on Friday said that it will arrange evacuation flights for Indian nationals in Ukraine amid the rising tensions after Russia's invasion in the country on Thursday, news agency ANI reported citing sources.
In addition, the cost of flights will be borne by the government, the report added.
The announcement comes after Ukraine shut down its airspace yesterday following Russian forces firing missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast after President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a 'special military operation'.
In his address early on Thursday, Putin had said he had no other option but to order what he has called a special operation against Ukraine, saying all of Moscow's previous attempts to change the security situation had come to nothing.
Earlier, India issued fresh advisory to stranded citizens informing people that the government is working on evacuation routes from Kyiv’s land borders with Hungary and Romania.
The Indian embassy has advised Indian nationals living closest to the border checkpoints to depart first in an organised manner in coordination with teams from MEA. The government has asked Indian ambassadors in countries neighbouring Ukraine such as Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary to send teams from their missions to border areas with Ukraine to facilitate the exit of Indians so that they can be evacuated to India.
Following the Russian military operations, leaders from a number of countries, including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union, have condemned Russia's military operations in the Donbas region.
(More details to follow)
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Also read: India to arrange evacuation flights for its nationals in Ukraine: Report