More Indian students returned home on Day 2, after a Kyiv nightmare

At around 3 am Sunday, a flight from Bucharest landed at Delhi’s IGI Airport. Around 250 passengers who got off breathed a sigh of relief. These were the first of the students from war-torn Ukraine to land on Sunday, the second day of the evacuation.

On Sunday, 688 Indian nationals returned in three Air India evacuation flights from Bucharest, Romania, and Budapest, Hungary.

After the early-morning flight, another evacuation flight with 240 Indian nationals on board landed at IGI around 9.20 am Sunday, followed by the day’s third flight, with 198 Indians on board, at 5.35 pm. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said approximately 13,000 Indians are stranded in Ukraine as of now.

Most students who returned in Sunday’s early flight came from Chernivtsi, about 40 km from Ukraine’s border with Romania, said Shivam Soni, a student at Bukovinian State Medical University (BSMU). A majority of passengers on the flight were from BSMU, the Delhi resident added.

An Air India flight was scheduled to depart from Kyiv to Delhi on February 24, but was cancelled when Ukrainian airspace was closed for civilian flights. Busses were arranged for different batches of students to send the students from the hostels to the border.
   
Students who have landed to the IGI airport, now taking different routes to reach their homes, most of them belongs to different states, accordingly they are taking different routes to their homes.  

Similarly, Telangana government had arranged a bus to take 17 students from the airport to Telangana Bhavan in Delhi. From there, transport will be arranged for students returning to the state, an official said. At the Arrival terminal of IGI, Haryana and UP governments had also displayed banners welcoming the students, offering them help and support.
    
There were 1,800 students in the university who were stuck, and 1,500 of them were from India. A lot of traffic is seen on the border of Romania as many people are still trying to cross over from Ukraine to Romania for safe passage.

Reference : Times of India, Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times & Indian Express