K’taka students stranded in Ukraine; CM Bommai speaks to External Affairs Minister

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Friday said 91 people from the state are stranded in Ukraine and all of them are students pursuing MBBS there.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regarding the safety and evacuation of students from the war-torn country.

According to Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), as per the district wise information of stranded persons received by its control room till 6 AM today, all 91 reported are students (pursuing MBBS) in Ukraine.

All this information collected at the 24/7 control room has been shared with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Embassy of India, Kyiv, Ukraine to make all possible arrangements for the safe evacuation of stranded students hailing from Karnataka, it said.

Further, MEA officers in the countries bordering Ukraine are in strategic locations for safe evacuation from alternative routes, the KSDMA release said, adding that ”we request to stay calm and face the situation with fortitude and be rest assured that the solution for safe evacuation is worked out on a mission mode.” Among the students stranded 28 are from Bengaluru, 10 from Mysuru, five each from Ballari and Hassan, followed by others.

KSDMA said as per the latest information from MEA, its teams have headed to land borders of Ukraine on February 24, and to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine, MEA Teams are being sent to the land borders with Ukraine in Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Romania.

The state government on Thursday issued a notification appointing senior IFS officer Manoj Rajan, Commissioner, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, Revenue Department (Disaster Management), as the Nodal Officer to facilitate safe movement of stranded people/students from Karnataka in Ukraine to their respective destinations, and has set up 24/7 Helpline for this purpose.

”Today morning I spoke to External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, he has gathered complete details. Several students who had gone to study medicine there from Karnataka are at a place called Kharkiv among others, they are all in touch, they are told to stay in a safe place,” Chief Minister Bommai said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, Government of India is making all efforts to evacuate them, Russian speaking diplomats are being sent to Ukraine.

”Efforts are being made to bring them back through land route, using diplomatic channels, as air space is closed there. There is also a thinking that people stranded at Western Ukraine can be moved, but looking at the right time and security, the Indian Embassy will give instructions in this regard, they are in touch with all students,” he added.

Further stating that he has requested the External Affairs Minister to make necessary arrangements like food for the stranded students, the Chief Minister said, the state government and the Government of India has created helplines.

”Jaishankar has instructed that until the war situation eases to an extent, every one (stranded there) needs to be cautious. There has been no reports of harm or trouble to anyone so far, but there are reports of bombing at some places like near Kharkiv, among others,” he added.

KSDMA has also created a web portal ‘//ukraine.karnataka.tech’, which can be operated on a mobile also, to collect relevant information of stranded people in Ukraine who hail from Karnataka.