NEW DELHI: More than 15,900 Indians have been brought back since the special flights under Operation Ganga began on February 22 to rescue the stranded Indian citizens in Ukraine.

To rescue Indian citizens, 2,135 Indians have been brought back on Sunday by 11 special civilian flights from Ukraine’s neighboring countries. The number of Indians airlifted by 66 special civilian flights goes up to 13,852, said the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

To date, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has flown 10 sorties to bring back 2,056 passengers, while taking 26 tons of relief load to these countries, as part of Operation Ganga, it added.

Among the special Civilian flights today, 9 landed in New Delhi while 2 reached Mumbai. There were 6 flights from Budapest, 2 from Bucharest, 2 from Rzeszow, and 1 from Kosice. On Monday, 8 special flights are expected to operate from Budapest (5), Suceava (2) and Bucharest (1), bringing in more than 1500 Indians back home.

The government has also deployed “special envoys” to four neighboring countries bordering Ukraine to coordinate and oversee the evacuation process of the Indian nationals.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities. (ANI)