Ukraine meeting scheduled; four ministers to go on evacuation operations, say sources

A delegation of four senior ministers is expected to travel to Ukraine's border nations to coordinate the evacuation of Indian students stranded in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In a meeting this morning, Narendra Modi led ministers and government officials to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Indians trying to flee the country.

Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh are going to accompany special envoys to assist in the evacuation in the countries surrounding Ukraine.

In the second meeting modi has called in two days, PM Modi said safe evacuation of students is his top priority.

Along with the Foreign Minister and Cabinet Secretary, the Prime Minister met on Sunday evening with the Foreign Minister.

High-level talks on the Ukraine crisis are held under the leadership of the Prime Minister.

Social media has been filled with pictures of hundreds of Indians stranded at Ukrainian borders.

There are about 16,000 students trapped in Ukraine, including those at the border and those in bunkers and bomb shelters.

The opposition parties, mostly the Congress, have circulated videos of students' SOSs and urged the government to evacuate students from Ukraine immediately.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted today that we cannot abandon our own people. He asked the government to share a detailed evacuation plan.

Few students were able to escape just before the attack by Russia and the shutdown of Ukraine's airspace.

There are still some people in the country trying to reach the border so they can board the evacuation flights that are being arranged by Air India from neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovak Republic.

"Operation Ganga" brought 219 people from Bucharest to Mumbai on Saturday. Five flights have arrived so far with students.