Four legislators from Tamil Nadu will join Ukraine evacuation efforts

As the first Indian state to assist the international evacuation efforts, Tamil Nadu has decided to send its legislators to neighboring countries near war-torn Ukraine to airlift its students.

Four senior IAS officers will accompany the four DMK lawmakers as they travel on an airlift to Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia to airlift Indian students. Two Rajya Sabha MPs will undergo the airlift, one Lok Sabha MP and MLA TRB Raja will participate in the airlift.

According to his office, Chief Minister MK Stalin inspected the rescue efforts being undertaken for Tamil Nadu students stranded in Ukraine.

"It is the responsibility of the Indian Government to safeguard the life of every Indian passport holder. @PMOIndia should reign in their Ministers from issuing unwarranted statements and put in their efforts for evacuating every Indian safely," tweeted MK Stalin on Wednesday.

Four senior ministers were sent to Ukraine's border nations in the past two weeks to support the evacuation of Indian students trapped by Russian invasion.

Romania and Moldova will be handled by Jyotiraditya Scindia; Slovakia by Kiren Rijiju; Hungary by Hardeep Puri and Poland by VK Singh.

During the welcoming ceremony, Ministers of the Centre have chanted "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and gave flowers to the returning students.

Social media has been filled with photos of hundreds of Indians stranded at the Ukrainian border.

Opposition parties, particularly Congress, have circulated videos showing students' SOS messages urging the Ukrainian government to evacuate them.

Some students who walked to the border in sub-zero temperatures claimed they had difficulty crossing and that officials had hardly assisted them.

Two hundred and ninety-nine people from Bucharest were evacuated on the first evacuation flight under "Operation Ganga", which landed in Mumbai Saturday.