The Indian embassy in Romania on Monday urged stranded Indians in Ukraine to not pay money to anyone for moving from the border to capital Bucharest from where evacuation flights to Delhi and Mumbai are being operated.
“It has been brought to our notice that some people are charging money to transfer Indian students from Romanian border to Bucharest,” the statement read.
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The embassy said all services being offered by it to the Indian citizens are “free, including transport to Bucharest… Please do not pay money to anyone.”
The embassy put out another order soon after, urging Indian students entering Moldova from Ukraine's Odessa - one of the worst-hit cities in the east European nation amid Russian invasion, “to remain in shelters”.
{{/usCountry}}The embassy put out another order soon after, urging Indian students entering Moldova from Ukraine's Odessa - one of the worst-hit cities in the east European nation amid Russian invasion, “to remain in shelters”.
{{/usCountry}}“Indian students from Odessa who are in shelters in Moldova set up by Moldovan government are requested to remain in the shelters,” the advisory read.
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The embassy said its officials from Moldova's capital Chisinau will go to the shelters and facilitate their evacuation process to Romania's capital Bucharest.
The latest advisory comes after the ministry of external affairs earlier in the day said Moldova was being added to the list of Ukraine's neighbouring countries that India is using as a land route to evacuate its stranded nationals.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said an MEA team had reached Moldova during the day and will assist in the evacuation process via Romania.
Moldova being a landlocked country, Indians reaching its border with Ukraine will first be moved to Romania, and from there they are being flown back to India.
Bagchi further urged stranded Indians to immediately move away from conflict zones to the western part of the war-hit nation. “Go to nearby cities, seek shelter there. We're making arrangements there, our teams will help you. Do not panic. We have enough flights,” he said at a press briefing.
On Sunday, India set up 24x7 control rooms with numbers of MEA teams aiding in the evacuation process of its citizens from Ukraine. Besides Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary are being used as land routes to repatriate Indians from Ukraine.
As many as 1,896 Indians have so far been brought back to the country on six flights under Operation Ganga - India's mission to repatriate its nationals from Ukraine. A seventh flight will reach Mumbai on Tuesday morning from Bucharest with 182 citizens on board.