6 flights to bring back over 1,200 Indians from Bucharest today, says Scindia

Bucharest : Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday said that six flights will bring over 1,200 Indian students back to India from the Romanian capital Bucharest today.

"We are mounting 6 flights today in Bucharest, Romania carrying over 1,200 Indian students back to India. I thank Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express for rising to the challenge and working round the clock with us on the evacuation operations. #OperationGanga," the Union Minister said in a tweet.

Scindia, who is overseeing the evacuation efforts of Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine as a Government of India-appointed special envoy, on Wednesday (local time) met the Indian Ambassador to Romania and Moldova, Rahul Shrivastava to discuss the operational issues for evacuation and the flight plan from Bucharest and Suceava in the coming days.

He also interacted with Indian students at Henri Coanda International Airport in Bucharest in Romania.

After Russia's forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, the Government of India launched 'Operation Ganga' to bring back stranded Indian nationals from the conflict-torn Ukraine.

 As part of the 'Operation Ganga' mission, special flights are being operated free of cost. The first such evacuation flight carrying 219 Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine landed in Mumbai on February 26. Several such flights have landed in India so far.

Indian Air Force (IAF) has also joined the government's evacuation efforts as its C-17 transport aircraft left for Romania in the early hours of Wednesday morning from the Hindan airbase near New Delhi.

24x7 control centres have been set up to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals through the border crossing points with Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities escalating the ongoing tensions between the two countries. Ukraine gained independence in 1991 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Earlier in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that special military operations are being launched "to protect" the people in the Donbas region. He also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences".

Leaders from a number of countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine. (ANI)