‘Putting Our Best Foot Forward’, ‘Special Envoy’ Hardeep Puri Tells News18 from Hungary on Ukraine Evacuation

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who on Wednesday reached Hungarian capital Budapest to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals stuck in war-torn Ukraine, told CNN-News18 the Indian government is taking the situation seriously and “we are putting our best foot forward to bring them back home”.

Giving details, Puri said that Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, and from February 26 till Monday, “we have got out 1,137 students… today 800 more students are being evacuated. 2,000 students out from here and flights are planned for tomorrow as well”.

Puri, who is one of the four ‘special envoys’ sent by the Indian government to help in the evacuation programme being undertaken under Operation Ganga, said, “We have got 17,000-18,000 (evacuated) out of 20,000 students/nationals in Ukraine. Advisories have been issued and I hope they are following that…”

The Indian embassy in Ukraine today issued two back-to-back all-caps advisories, asking Indian nationals to leave Kharkiv immediately and reach Pisochyn, Babai, Bezlyudivka towns by any means, including by foot.

“We are in constant touch with everyone?I hope there are no stray cases, it’s a war situation and we must have them all in one place. The situation is under control?.kids are being provided food, refreshment and a place to stay,” Puri told CNN-News18.

During his interaction with the students in the Hungarian capital, Puri said “there was joy and spontaneous cheer”. The minister spoke to the students at Hotel Grand Hungarian when they were on their way to Budapest Airport to board the special Indian Air Force aircraft that was waiting to fly them home. “The Modi government will bring back every young student from Ukraine,” he said.

India has been undertaking a massive evacuation programme to bring back stranded nationals from Ukraine. Following the closing of Ukrainian airspace, India has been evacuating its citizens through Ukraine using its land border crossings with neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said that 26 flights have been scheduled in the next three days to bring back stranded citizens. He also added that 12,000 Indians have already left Ukraine, which is almost 60% of the Indian nationals present in the strife-torn country.

Read all the Latest News India and Breaking News here