India has brought back 'somewhere around 10,400' citizens from war-torn Ukraine, informed the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday.
In its daily news briefing on the evacuation of Indians, MEA spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi said that to date over 20,000 citizens have crossed the border into neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, the government continues to remain unsure of the exact number of Indians stranded in the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Sumy. It estimates around 1,000 Indian students to be stuck in the conflict zones.
"We estimate around 300 are left in Kharkiv, it could be less. And about 700 in Sumy," said Bagchi.
The MEA spokesperson added that in the absence of a local ceasefire the "conflict situation there is posing significant obstacles in moving people out".
Focus on evacuating from Pisochyn
The spokesperson said the focus now is on getting Indians who had moved from the conflict areas to the relatively peaceful Pisochyn region.
"We had about 900-odd people in Pisochyn. We have managed to get five buses there. Two buses have left to Lviv and three to the Moldovan border. A couple more should happen later in the evening or by tomorrow. Each bus takes 40-odd people," he said.
16 flights scheduled
India has scheduled 16 flights, including four C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, under Operation Ganga for Saturday.
In the last 24 hours, 18 flights have landed bringing back 4,000 Indians. "So far a total of 48 flights have landed. With the completion of the scheduled flights, a vast majority of Indians who had crossed over from Ukraine would have returned to India."