The IAF's four evacuation flights with 798 Indians landed at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad on Thursday morning. All four IAF flights were conducted using C-17 military transport aircraft.
The Indian Air Force's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30 am and Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcomed them at the airbase. The second evacuation flight carrying 210 people from Budapest landed at the Hindon airbase. A little while after the second, the IAF's third evacuation flight arrived at the airbase from Rzeszow with 208 Indians. The fourth flight brought 180 Indians from Bucharest.
"I welcome you all on your safe return to our motherland... PM Modi himself is monitoring all developments," Union Minister Ajay Bhatt said while interacting with the evacuees at the airbase.
"We are taking care of every student returning from Ukraine. Our four Union ministers are taking care of every aspect of evacuation operations in different neighbouring countries of Ukraine. Operation Ganga is progressing successfully," Bhatt said.
India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.
"I request the government to bring back the students stuck in Kyiv and Kharkiv as the situation there is serious. I appreciate the efforts of our government to evacuate all Indians from Ukraine," Ujjala Gupta, one of the returnees, told ANI.
Four Union Ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals. Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.
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