The pace of 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate Indian citizens from Ukraine continues to accelerate with three Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft returning home with 630 Indian nationals from Romania and Hungary, earlier this morning.

With as many as 33 flights between Thursday and Friday, over 7,000 of the nearly 18,000 Indian citizens evacuated from the conflict zone have already been brought back home.

The first four IAF C-17 aircraft had evacuated 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary and Poland besides also supplying 9.7 tonnes humanitarian relief material.

Three more IAF C-17 aircraft returned to Hindan air base in the early hours of Friday carrying the Ukraine conflict-affected 630 Indian nationals from Romania and Hungary.

Indian evacuation flights continue to depart from Bucharest, Budapest, Rzeszow, Kosice and Suceava near the Romanian border.  

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), around 1,000 Indian citizens had also left Kharkiv, Sumy, and other cities in Eastern Ukraine where a fresh outbreak of violence has been reported.

The MEA said on Thursday that they are currently in the city of Pesochin and the Indian authorities are currently looking at transportation options to move them from there to western or southern Ukraine.

India's humanitarian aid to Ukraine consisting of medicines, medical equipment, other relief material, tents, has also reached Poland and Romania.  

At Delhi Airport again this morning, Recieved another flight full of Indian students in Ukraine who were airlifted from #Bucharest #Romania – Also the flight crew from @IndiGo6E who flew them home safely 🙏🏻#OperationGanga pic.twitter.com/Vwvtg90KaJ

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) March 4, 2022

As reported by IndiaNarrarive.com earlier, the safe evacuation of foreigners from Ukraine, especially the Indian students, was even discussed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron during their phone call on Thursday.

The Russian President told Macron to join forces to ensure the safe evacuation of foreigners from Ukraine, specifically mentioning a large group of Indian students stranded in the city of Kharkov.

The conversation between the two leaders took place after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to Putin for the second time in a week on Wednesday night with the discussion centering around the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas in Ukraine.

The Kremlin had said that Putin told PM Modi that all the necessary instructions have been given, and the Russian military is doing everything possible to ensure the safe removal of Indian citizens from the war zone and their return to their homeland.

"The Russian side, in particular, is trying to organise an urgent evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkov through the humanitarian corridor along the shortest route to Russia," said the Russian President's office.

On Thursday, India had denied reports of Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine, saying it continues to coordinate with several countries in the region to evacuate its citizens at the earliest.

Also Read: Putin and Macron discuss safe evacuation of Indian students from Kharkov in Ukraine