With the help of Russians, Indian girl students stranded in war-torn Ukraine's Kharkiv are on their way to the country's western border by train and efforts are being made to evacuate the boys, government sources told NDTV on Wednesday evening. Sources told the news channel that a lot of background negotiations with Russians have been going on and due to this, they have avoided the areas India asked them not to target.
"A lot of background negotiations with Russians have been going on. Now they, in fact, are helping us in evacuation," a senior government said. "The Russians have avoided the areas we had asked them not to target... We are tying up with the Russians for safe passage of our students," he added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said today that efforts are on to reach cities in the eastern part of Ukraine, though it is not easy.
The eastern part of Ukraine has been witnessing intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops.
The comments by MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi came hours after the Indian embassy in Ukraine asked all Indians in Kharkiv to leave the city immediately for three safe zones.
He said nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine's borders since advisories were issued over a fortnight back.
Bagchi said 15 flights are scheduled over the next 24 hours and some of them are already operating.
"The cities in eastern remain areas of concern for us. Some students were able to board trains out of Kharkiv yesterday night and this morning and we assisted in the process through the student contractors and other partners," Bagchi said.
"We have been in communication with the Russians regarding the safe passage of our nationals from Kharkiv and other nearby cities," he said.
Bachi said India is also exploring the option of reaching the eastern part of Ukraine to help in the evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in the areas.
"It's not easy because the route is not open at all times," he said at a media briefing.
Separately, he said an Indian national, identified as Chandan Jindal, died in Ukraine due to natural causes. He was in the hospital for the last few days.
Bagchi also said that there has been a sharp increase in the number of Indians who have left Ukraine over the recent past.
"We now estimate that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine's borders since our advisories were issued. This of course includes some Indians who had not registered with the embassy earlier," Bagchi said.
(With PTI inputs)
