India focusing on security of Indian students in Ukraine

New Delhi, Feb 24: India is focusing on security of Indians particularly students in Ukraine and is closely monitoring the rapidly changing situation. The control room set up in the MEA is being expanded and made operational on 24x7 basis, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said here on Thursday.

"The Ministry is holding a high level meeting here to review the situation that continues to escalate near the Ukrainian border after Russia launched its military operations in the Donbas region. The senior officials of the Ministry are in constant touch with the Indian embassy in Ukraine," sources further said.

An Air India plane which was sent to bring back students from Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, had to return because of ongoing missile attacks between Russia and Ukraine.

The sources in the Ministry also said that the government is reviewing other options to evacuate Indians and students via the neighbouring countries like Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Romania but before taking any final decision, the government is evaluating all possible actions.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Thursday asked Indians residing there to maintain calm and to remain safe wherever they are and also issued a fresh advisory.

"The present situation in Ukraine is highly uncertain. Please maintain calm and remain safe wherever you are, be it in your homes, hostels, accommodations or in transit," the Indian embassy said.

"All those who are travelling to Kiev including those travelling from western parts of Kiev, are advised to return to their respective cities, temporarily, especially towards safer places along the western bordering countries," the advisory further said, adding that the further advisories would be issued for any updates.