New Delhi: Air India flight has taken off from Bucharest airport of Romania bringing Indian who stranded in war-torn Ukraine.

First Air India flight evacuated 219 Indians from Ukraine will be landed in Mumbai at 4 pm. Union Minister Piyush Goyal will receive Indian passengers at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

“Evaluation of Indian nationals from Ukraine, we are making progress. Our teams are working on the ground round the clock. I am personally monitoring. The first flight to Mumbai with 219 Indian nationals has taken off from Romania", Dr. Jayshankar, Minister for External Affairs tweeted.

Following requests of the Indian Embassy in Ukraine, Indian nationals have reached to Ukraine- Romania border by road, later they have been taken to Bucharest by Indian government officials so that they can be evacuated in the Air India flight.

The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24 and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest.

Before the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had flown one plane to Ukraine's capital Kyiv on February 22 that brought 240 people back to India.

Read: https://24x7liveindia.com/air-india-flights-to-evacuate-stranded-indians-from-ukraine

New Delhi had plans to operate two more flights on February 24 and February 26 but the Ukrainian airspace was shut down following the Russian offensive.

Air India tweeted that it will be operating flights on B787 aircraft from Delhi and Mumbai to Bucharest and Budapest on Saturday as special government charter flights to fly back stranded Indian citizens.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Friday said it is working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary.

The Indian government is in touch with its Russian counterparts for the safe evacuation of Indians are stranded in Ukraine. India is contemplating evacuating Indians through Moscow too.

Indian nationals, especially students, living closest to these border checkpoints are advised to depart in an organised manner in coordination with teams from the Ministry of External Affairs to actualise this option, the embassy said.

In a fresh advisory today, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine has asked the Indian citizens not to move to border posts without coordinating with its officials.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up a dedicated 24x7 control room to provide assistance and information to Indians in Ukraine, NDTV reports.

The first batch of evacuees from Ukraine reach Romania via Suceava border crossing.

Our team at Suceava will now facilitate travel to Bucharest for their onward journey to India. pic.twitter.com/G8nz2jVHxD

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) February 25, 2022