Will Russia and Ukraine abide by India’s appeal to evacuate Indian students from embattled Sumy?

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<strong>India has once again appealed to Russia and Ukraine to have a local ceasefire in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy so that it can evacuate hundreds of its citizens, mainly students, who have been stuck in the region for a long time now.</strong></p>
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According to the Indian authorities' estimate, there are about 700-plus, or even a little higher, number of Indian students still stuck in a conflict situation in Sumy and another 300 people left in Kharkiv.<br />
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Reports suggest that Russia has arranged about 103 buses on its side of the border near Kharkiv to help in evacuation of the Indian students. However, the location of buses remains about 50-60 kilometres away from where the Indian students are.<br />
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"They're frankly, too far away for them to just walk in and take it. This is a conflict zone and we don't see a safe and secure way to reach them. In fact, I would appeal and urge the parties concerned to have a local ceasefire, at least so that we can go to those buses if that is a suggested route because otherwise, having the bus is a good step, but it's just one step," said  Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).</p>
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<img alt="Ukraine" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/sumy_kharkiv.webp" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></p>
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<em><strong>Map courtesy: Google</strong></em></p>
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Unlike Pisochyn, a relatively safer place from where India is evacuating about 900-1000 of its citizens, Sumy and Kharkiv remain an area of concern for the evacuation authorities as contact points in terms of the two sides are posing significant obstacles in moving students out of the city.<br />
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"So, if a ceasefire is there, we do not want that our students should cross from that area, where there is any risk. You know that anything can happen in war zone, therefore we want that there should be some safe route which is very important. So about ceasefire, we have informed both the sides publicly that if some local ceasefire is there then we can take out our students and we have been telling this to both the sides," said the MEA spokesperson.</p>
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<img alt="Ukraine Russia" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/sumy_kharkiv1.webp" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></p>
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<em><strong>Map courtesy: Google</strong></em></p>
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Recognising the difficult situation, there are some who say that India must have a Plan-B ready to evacuate Indian students caught up in the conflict zone.</p>
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"We must be prepared to send in our commandos to extricate our children just in case neither the Russians nor the Ukrainians comply with our request for a safe-passage. This operation, if required must be well publicised carried out and the convoy must move under the banner of the Indian flag, " says India's former ambassador to Russia, Bala Venkatesh Varma, in a conversation with India Narrative.  </p>
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<img height="1" src="file:///C:/Users/Dell/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif" width="1" />The Indian embassy in Ukraine also said that it is "exploring all possible mechanisms" to evacuate the Indian citizens in Sumy, safely and securely.</p>
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"Discussed evacuation and identification of exit routes with all interlocutors including Red Cross. Control room will continue to be active until all our citizens are evacuated. Be safe, be strong," tweeted the Embassy Friday night.<br />
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India has so far, till Friday evening, managed to bring back over 10,400 of its citizens from the conflict zone in Ukraine, including 4,000 of them in 18 flights between Thursday and Friday. A total of 48 flights have brought back Indians from Ukraine till now with another 16 operating today.<br />
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Air Force C-17 aircrafts continue to bring Indian students back home from Bucharest, Rzeszow in Poland and Bratislava in Slovak Republic. Several flights are also taking off from Budapest, Suceava in Romania, Kosice in Slovakia and Warsaw.</p>
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<strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/ukraine-crisis-india-operates-evacuation-flights-in-hours-more-return-home-on-iaf-aircraft-154714.html">Ukraine crisis: India operates 33 evacuation flights in 48 hours, 630 more return home on IAF aircraft</a> </strong></p>