India has been one of the most active countries in evacuating its citizens from Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia. On Monday, government sources said four Union ministers including Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh, will travel to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to help coordinate the evacuation process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also constantly reviewing the situation. He has conducted two high-level meetings over two days for better evacuation of the Indians stuck in war torn Ukraine. Five Air India flights have already brought back a number of citizens, and there are more flights underway as India launched is rescue operation ‘Op Ganga’ to help those stuck in the country. SpiceJet will also operate a special flight to Hungarian capital Budapest on Friday to evacuate Indians in Ukraine.
Here is a list of how other countries are giving efforts to bring back their citizens as Russia clashes with Ukraine.
China
On February 24, China announced chartered flights for its nationals stranded in Ukraine and requested its citizens leaving Kyiv to display signs of identification, such as the Chinese flag. Two days later, the Chinese embassy urged its citizens to “refrain… from displaying signs of identification”. However, on February 27, the eastern country current conditions were too unsafe to evacuate citizens. In a video message, the Chinese ambassador to Ukraine dispelled rumours that he had left Kyiv and reassured Chinese nationals left stranded in the war-torn country. China has issued no travel advisories and no support mechanisms, while India has released contact numbers, advisories and support mechanisms.
United States
As India’s Op Ganga is underway in full swing, the US has explicitly stated that “The U.S. government will not be able to evacuate U.S. citizens from Ukraine.” An advisory urged U.S citizens in Ukraine to depart now using privately available transportation options if it is safe to do so. It seems no specific evacuation effort has been undertaken by the US government to bring back its nationals from Ukraine. However, private groups have come to the rescue of US nationals stuck in Ukraine to carry on evacuation processes. Last week, however, the US Embassy had released an online form, local (Ukraine) and international (US-based) phone numbers for communication.The US encouraged its citizens to enrol in the STEP enrollment for security updates and easy communication in an emergency.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has stated that “Russia’s military action in Ukraine will severely affect the British Government’s ability to provide consular assistance in Ukraine. British Nationals should not expect increased consular support or help with evacuating in these circumstances.” Embassy office in Kyiv has temporarily relocated. Embassy staff are operating from the British Embassy office in Lviv. The in-person consular services that British Embassy office in Lviv can provide are extremely limited. The Indian Embassy, on the other hand, is still functional. Britain has asked its nationals to follow the advice of Ukrainian authorities with no additional assistance.
Germany
The German government has said that “German nationals are urgently requested to leave the country. An evacuation by German authorities is currently not possible.” Germany has also closed its embassy in Kyiv temporarily, but has released a crisis hotline of the Federal Foreign Office on +49 (0) 30 / 5000 3000.
Egypt
The Head of the Egyptian Community in Ukraine, Ali Farouk, said last week that authorities in Ukraine and the Egyptian embassy were coordinating the return of Egyptian students. Egyptian students stranded in Ukraine have been calling on the embassy to help them evacuate, while some students took matters into their own hands and crossed the border into Poland, hoping to make it back home.
Morocco
Like India, Morocco’s embassy continues to closely monitor the evacuation process. The embassy has instructed Moroccans in Ukraine to head for the closest land crossing-points joining Ukraine and Poland, Romania, Slovakia, or Hungary. The government has provided Moroccans with free-toll phone numbers to aid the evacuation process. Several Moroccans are currently moving towards crossing points between Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary on their own.
Nigeria
The Nigerian government said that it had “received with surprise” reports of the Russian invasion, and that once airports are open, it would assist people. Students from Nigeria felt that message they were largely receiving from the Government translated to the fact that they were “on their own.”
Around
80,000 international students study in Ukraine, according to data from Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science. The largest number come from India, followed by Morocco, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Nigeria.
India’s evacuation programme Operation Ganga has been the most active among all nations which have their citizens in Ukraine. PM Modi had chaired a meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Sunday too. It was decided at the meeting to further enhance cooperation with the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to expedite the evacuation of Indian students, sources had said.
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