Indian officials fly to Europe to help evacuate nationals stranded in Ukraine amid racism reports

The Indian government announced on Monday that four of its ministers will fly out to Ukraine's neighbouring countries to ensure the safe evacuation of nationals seeking to flee Russia's invasion of the country.

The move will serve as a boost to New Delhi’s efforts to rescue the more than 18,000 students stranded in Ukraine in what has been dubbed "Operation Ganga" with reports of racism at some border crossings.

Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is set to fly to Romania while Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju will head to Slovakia, the announcement said.

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing Minister Hardeep Puri will head to Hungary and Transport Minister Vijay Kumar Singh to fly to Poland, it added.

Decision to deploy special envoys to the 4 countries bordering #Ukraine. Union Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia will be going to Romania, Kiren Rijiju to Slovak Republic, Hardeep Puri to Hungary, VK Singh to Poland... to coordinate and oversee the evacautaion process...: MEA pic.twitter.com/kaXJpeV4d4

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2022

A foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters that Indians still in Ukraine were advised to move to the western part of the country and not to cross borders without coordination with Indian authorities.

Some 8,000 Indian students have left Ukraine while 1,396 students have arrived in India, he added.

A number of Indian students fleeing the conflict have said they were beaten by Ukrainian security forces and prevented from crossing the border when attempting to flee to neighbouring countries. 

"[We] have been waiting for three days, but we were not allowed to cross over. We have been tortured like animals," Mansi Chaudhary, who studied in Ukraine and attempted to leave the country told Indian news channel NDTV.

"They are letting their people cross over but not us."

Multiple Twitter accounts posted videos purportedly showing students being attacked by security guards at the border.

Rahul Gandhi, the head of India’s Congress Party and leader of the opposition, tweeted a video that reportedly showed soldiers in uniform manhandling students as they sat on the ground and were heard screaming.

My heart goes out to the Indian students suffering such violence and their family watching these videos. No parent should go through this.

GOI must urgently share the detailed evacuation plan with those stranded as well as their families.

We can’t abandon our own people. pic.twitter.com/MVzOPWIm8D

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 28, 2022

Some speculated that the mistreatment of Indian students was linked to India's move to abstain from voting on a UN Security Council against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, other reports showed that students from the Middle East and Africa were also barred from boarding trains and leaving Ukraine. 

India has so far refrained from calling Russia an aggressor in its invasion of Ukraine.