65 Odisha students evacuated from war-torn Kharkiv to safer place

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Friday said that it was able to evacuate 65 Odia students from the war-torn Kharkiv region in Ukraine to a safer place in the country's west.

In a statement, the Odisha Chief Minister's Officer (CMO) said many students were stuck in the Kharkiv and Pisochyn area of Ukraine during the past three days and were suffering a lot of problems. The state government was able to evacuate 65 Odisha students by making a special arrangement of two buses to Ukraine's western border regions.

It has also expedited the work to evacuate all other students stuck in the area and bring them back to India though flights, it said.

The Resident Commissioner's office at New Delhi is working as a nodal office for the purpose. So far, 199 students from Odisha have landed safely in India, the CMO said.

On Thursday, the state government had nominated four special representatives for Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, who will coordinate with the Resident Commissioner, and the respective countries, for smooth evacuation of students and other Odia people stranded in Ukraine.