India issues new advisory amid volatile Ukraine situation

The advisory offers helpline numbers and an email ID through which anyone in distress can get in touch with the Indian embassy in Kyiv.

With the situation in the Ukrainian border region of Donbas remaining volatile, India on Tuesday issued a fresh advisory for its nationals stranded in that country.

The advisory offers helpline numbers and an email ID through which anyone in distress can get in touch with the Indian embassy in Kyiv.

The fresh advisory issued by the embassy in Kyiv read, 'For maintaining contact with Indian citizens in light of the situation, Embassy of India has opened the following special helplines and email ID: +380 997300483, +380 997300428 and cons1.kyiv@mea.gov.in'.

The Indian embassy has also asked the nationals to use these numbers only for urgent and emergency-related queries. 

"Any new information would be regularly published on the embassy website, Twitter and Facebook page," the embassy said. 

In the earlier advisory, the embassy had asked the students whose stay is not essential to return home temporarily. 

'Indian nationals are also advised to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine,' it said. 

All Indian nationals have also been asked to keep informing the embassy about the status of their presence in Ukraine to enable them to reach them when required.

'Intelligence not encouraging'

Meanwhile, amidst Russian confirmation that some of its troops were pulling back from the Ukraine border, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the intelligence is not encouraging.

"There are signs of a diplomatic opening with Russia, but the intelligence we are seeing today is not encouraging. We have a tough package of sanctions ready if Russia chooses war. We maintain that diplomacy and de-escalation is the only way forward," he said.