140 more Telangana students return from Ukraine

Hyderabad, March 4:  As many as 260 students from Telangana who were stranded in war-torn Ukraine have so far returned home, officials said.

Of them, 140 students landed in Delhi on Thursday by 13 flights from Ukraine's neighbouring countries. The flights had taken off from Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Rzeszow (Poland) and Kocise (Slovakia).

This is the maximum number of citizens from Telangana to return home in a single day since the evacuation began on February 26. They included 65 students who reached Delhi by four aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Gaurav Uppal, Resident Commissioner, Telangana Bhavan and Additional DGP, Intelligence Anil Kumar interacted with Telangana students in Telangana Bhavan.

The government of Telangana has made arrangements to receive all returnees at Delhi and Mumbai airports. The state government also booked air tickets for them from Delhi and Mumbai to Hyderabad.

Chaita Gadhe, a student of Ivano Frankivsk National Medical University, thanked the state government for all the support extended by it. She landed in Delhi from Poland. The student said they faced a lot of difficulties in making it to the border and crossing into Poland. "We were confused, stressed out and our parents back home were worried over our safety," she said.

Nadia, a student of Uzhgorod National University, said she crossed the border to reach Hungary. "I called on the toll free number of the Telangana government and the officials provided all the support," she said and thanked both the central and state governments and the Indian embassy for the help.