New Delhi: Russia is pushing hard to seize control in major Ukrainian cities as the country puts up the defiant stand. India has stepped up evacuation of its citizens from the war zone by roping in the Air Force.
• A total of 648 Indians, including students, were flown back today by the Indian Air Force flight on its C-17 military transport aircraft. The C-17 heavy lift transport planes took off from Romania, Hungary and Poland.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian
President Vladimir Putin yesterday and was assured of Russian help on the safe evacuations of Indian students stranded in Kharkiv – the Ukrainian city which is virtually under Russian control, government officials told.
• India has abstained from voting against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly, where a resolution demanding that Russia stop military operations in Ukraine was passed with 141 votes in favour. There were 35 abstentions and five votes against it.
• Approximately 8,000 Indians, mainly students, are still stranded in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on Tuesday. India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine’s western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.
• Russian forces have taken over the Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials confirmed late Wednesday. Kherson is the first major urban centre to fall since Moscow invaded a week ago. According to news agency AFP, the Russian forces have also surrounded Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov.
• Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has vowed to stay in capital Kyiv, has accused Russia of trying to “erase” Ukrainians, their country and their history. More than 836,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, according to the UN.
• In a major development in football, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has confirmed he will sell the Premier League club. The Russian billionaire said that it is in the “best interest” of the Champions League holders if he parts ways with the club he has transformed since his purchase in 2003.
• Meanwhile, Russia’s largest lender Sberbank cited “abnormal cash outflows” as it announced its decision to leave the European market. The “abnormal cash outflows” were witnessed after it was targeted by Western sanctions, it said.
• More than 2,000 civilians have been killed in the Russian attack which has destroyed hospitals, kindergartens and homes, according to the Ukrainian emergency service. Over 900,000 Ukrainians have fled the country since the assault began, Europe’s fastest displacement of people for decades.
• At least 498 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. Moscow is exploring the possibility of ceasefire talks on Thursday with Kyiv, which says a delegation is “on its way” for the talks at an undisclosed location on the Belarus-Poland border.