More than 6,400 Indian nationals have been evacuated and brought back to India from war hit Ukraine under Operation Ganga, the Centre informed on Tuesday.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “A total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since our first advisory was released. 30 flights under Operation Ganga have brought back 6,400 Indians from Ukraine so far. In the next 24 hours, 18 flights have been scheduled.”

Bagchi added, “This increased number of flights reflects the large of Indians who have crossed over from Ukraine and are now in the neighbouring countries. We will further step up efforts to bring all these Indian nationals back to India at the earliest.”

The EAM spokesperson further said that more flights will bring a large number of Indians back home in the upcoming days, reported ANI.

He said, “We are scheduling more flights and a large number of Indians will be back home in the next 2-3 days. I would like to appreciate the Ukrainian government and the neighbouring countries for hosting our people and providing support in evacuating them.”

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Ukraine urgently appealed Indian citizens in the country’s Kharkiv city to fill up a form to speed up evacuation procedure.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city is practically under Russian control and Russians are reportedly helping with the evacuation of Indian nationals in the city.

In a tweet, the embassy wrote, “All Indian Nationals who are in KHARKIV excluding PISOCHYN, please fill up details contained in the form on an urgent basis.”