Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister R Ashoka welcomed 12 students of the state who were stranded in Ukraine amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict and arrived in Bengaluru on Sunday and 18 more are expected to arrive today. 

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Minister R Ashoka welcomes and interacted with the students. 

R Ashoka said, "Today 12 people from Mumbai arrived and  18 more from Delhi will arrive. State Revenue Dept arranged everything at Karnataka Bhawan. They're staying there. Booked flight tickets to Bengaluru for Kannadigas. Discussed last night with chief minister and and Revenue Department will pay for the tickets". 

Dr Manoj Rajan, Commissioner, Karnataka State Disaster Mgmt Authority said, "12 people who had arrived in Mumbai just landed in Bengaluru. Another batch arrived in Delhi, they've been shifted to Karnataka Bhawan. We've booked their tickets to Bengaluru, they'll reach around 2-3 pm".  

Read: https://24x7liveindia.com/250-indian-nationals-from-ukraine-landed-at-delhi-airport

In the first batch of Operation Ganga, India has evacuated 219 people as part of its mission to bring Indians from war-hit Ukraine. The flight took off from neighbouring Romania, as the Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations, and landed in Mumbai on Saturday evening.

"Another set of 5 batches is arriving at 10.15 today. So, 18 confirmed at Delhi Airport today. As of now, we have details of 386 people belonging to Karnataka, stranded in Ukraine", added Manoj Rajan.

"I am happy but my friends are stuck there. The situation there is getting worse," said Shreya to news agency ANI after arriving at Bengaluru airport. 

"I am very overwhelmed, very happy. Embassy tried its level best. We thank the Govt of India and PM Modi," said Vijaylaxmi.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Karnataka Minister R Ashoka welcome and interact with students who returned from Ukraine amid #RussiaUkraineConflict pic.twitter.com/YM7rmmCfWF

— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2022