
The Indian government scheduled special flights to evacuate Indian nationals only, not Ukrainian women. 182 Indians flew back on February 24, 2022.
On February 23, 2022, around 240 Indians were flown back from Ukraine on an Air India Boeing aircraft. According to the Hindustan Times, the flight took off from Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, and landed at the Delhi airport the same night. On February 24, 2022, a special Ukraine International Airline (UIA) flight with 182 Indians landed in Delhi at 07:45 am IST, mainly carrying students. This flight took off from Ukraine shortly before the Ukrainian government issued a notice restricting the movement of civil or passenger flights within its airspace. As a result, another Air India flight scheduled for a further evacuation later that day was forced to return. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine tweeted on February 24, 2022, saying that alternative arrangements were being made since the air space was shut.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that around 4,000 Indians have already been evacuated since January as the government started repatriation efforts early. According to Reuters, 16,000 Indian nationals are still waiting to be evacuated.
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