India likely to increase flights from Ukraine amid rising tensions with Russia

The government is exploring the possibility of increasing the number of flights between India and Ukraine to facilitate the return of Indians from the eastern European nation in view of its tense situation with Russia.

Discussions are underway with civil aviation authorities and various airlines on how to increase the number of flights between India and Ukraine, official sources said.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Tuesday advised Indian citizens, especially the students, to temporarily leave that country in view of the uncertainties of the current situation.

It also asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine.

The sources said the Indian embassy continues to monitor developments in that country.

“We are aware that many Indian students are presently in Ukraine, and their families are anxious about their wards, particularly about getting flights to India,” a source said.

The sources said control rooms in the Indian embassy in Kyiv as well as in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi are being set up to respond to queries of Indian nationals in Ukraine and their families in India.

The embassy issued the advisory amid escalating tension between Moscow and the NATO countries over Russia’s increasing military build-up close to the Ukrainian border.

The US has already sent extra troops to Europe to support its allies in the backdrop of fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has positioned around 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine besides sending warships into the Black Sea for naval exercises, triggering concerns among the NATO countries about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has been denying that it plans to invade Ukraine and withdraw some of its forces from the border on Tuesday.