Indian nationals evacuated under Operation Ganga by IAF | Image: Twitter/ IAF
Three more Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 aircrafts, involved in evacuating Indians from Ukraine, took off on Thursday from Romania, Hungary, and Poland amid Russia’s invasion of its neighbouring country.
The first four C-17 aircrafts under Operation Ganga evacuated a total of 798 Indian nationals from airfields in Romania, Hungary and Poland, according to IAF.
"First four IAF C-17 aircraft under #OperationGanga evacuated 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary & Poland. They also supplied 9.7 tons of relief material," IAF tweeted.
The American-made C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are capable of flying long distances with close to 400 passengers.
Notably, the C-17 transport aircraft was also used to evacuate Indians from Kabul amid the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been holding important meetings to discuss the issue for the past few days, reported ANI.
Russia had launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24 after recognizing Ukraine’s breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision was largely criticized with countries like United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and the European Union (EU) also imposing harsh economic sanctions against Russia.
Ukraine has also received support and assistance, both military and diplomatic, from these nations.
The US, Canada, and other European allies agreed to remove important Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT cutting Russian bank’s ability to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia’s borders.
In retaliation, President Putin signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies.
