Sonu Sood urges Indian Embassy in Ukraine to help evacuate stranded students, families: ‘Praying for their safety’

Actor Sonu Sood has urged the Indian government to ensure that the Indian citizens ‘stuck’ in Ukraine are brought back amid the ongoing crisis with Russia. The actor took to his Twitter account on Thursday, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. The actor concluded his post by saying he is ‘praying’ for the safety of the Indians stranded in Ukraine. He also added the hashtag, “#IndiansInUkraine” to his post. 

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Sonu requested the Indian Embassy in Ukraine to find an ‘alternate route’ to evacuate the citizens back to India. “There are 18000 Indian students and many families who are stuck in Ukraine, I am sure Government must be trying their best to get them back. I urge Indian Embassy to find an alternate route for their evacuation,” he wrote. 

Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow does not plan to occupy Ukraine, but launched a military action there with the motive of “demilitarisation” of the European country. Putin made the announcement in a surprise televised address. Several Indian celebrities including Richa Chadha and Tillotama Shome have reacted to the situation on social media.

Richa wrote on her Twitter account, “Every annexation/withdrawal of troops that push a country back into the Dark Ages/new data privacy rules, everything that’ll happen now will happen to ‘further democracy’ and in ‘national interest’.”

Tillotama reacted to the crisis by saying that “nothing is uglier than war.” She wrote, “I worry incessantly for my mother who is battling cancer in the midst of covid. But when I think of the families and cancer patients in the middle of war, my brain just ceases to comprehend. Nothing absolutely nothing is uglier than war. Mothers don’t give life for war.”

The Indian Embassy in Ukraine has issued an advisory for Indian nationals and students to carry their documents with them at all times and to ‘be aware of their surroundings’ and not to leave their homes unless necessary. Meanwhile, several airlines, including Air India, have started special flights to evacuate Indian nationals safely. As per ANI, 182 Indian citizens, most of them students, arrived in Delhi via Ukraine International Airlines on Thursday morning.

A team from the Embassy of India in Hungary has also been dispatched to border post Zohanyi in Ukraine to facilitate the evacuation of Indian citizens. The Embassy tweeted that they are working with the Government of Hungary to provide all possible assistance, while the Government of India is “closely monitoring the situation” and working out evacuation plans.