Bhubaneswar: An evacuation flight sent to Ukraine to rescue Indian nationals stuck in the war-torn country brought back 60 more students from Odisha on Friday. They reached Delhi this morning from where they were taken to Odisha Bhawan.
The students shared their trauma of having to live in bunkers and shelters with sounds of bombs, all around, for the last 10 days. They, however, expressed apprehensions about the safety of their friends, who are still stuck in the embattled country.
Three more IAF C-17 aircraft, carrying 630 Indian nationals, had returned to Hindan airbase late last night and early this morning, using airfields in Romania and Hungary. 18 more flights have been pressed into service under Operation Ganga.
On Thursday, nine Odia students had arrived in Bhubaneswar on an Air India flight, after spending seven harrowing days in the country ravaged by the Russian invasion. They are all students of Ternopil National Medical University (TNMU).
Notably, the Odisha government had managed to evacuate 25 first-year students of Kharkiv National Medical University from a shelter near Sanatoriy Roshcha at Pesochyn on Thursday by arranging two buses in coordination with a state-based private agency that had sent them to the medical institute.
Also Read: [Watch] Odia Students Thank Chief Minister For Safe Evacuation From Ukraine
State Resident Commissioner in New Delhi Ravi Kant told TNIE that around 100 students of Odisha shifted to Pesochyn on Wednesday following the urgent advisory from the Indian Embassy to leave Kharkiv. Efforts are on to rescue all Odisha students from the war zone, he added.
Another group of 25 students of the state had managed to reach the Poland border on the day. They are now in Rzeszów city of Poland and waiting to board the flight to India, the report added.
Also Read: [Watch] We Are So Relieved To Have You Back, Odisha CM Tells Students
At least 425 students from Odisha were in Ukraine when Russia launched its military operation and between Friday and Wednesday noon, 28 students had returned to India, sources said.
