CM Pinarayi Vijayan writes to Prime Minister for helping Indians trapped in Ukraine

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his immediate intervention to bring all Indians, most of them students, back from war-hit cities of Ukraine.

In the letter, he said some of the Indians have taken refuge in bunkers in eastern cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumi with food and water shortage.

Vijayan sought also the opening of a route through Moldovia to rescue the stranded Indians.

He said he has raised these issues with the Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Jaishankar today assured Vijayan of steps to rescue hundreds of Malayali students in Ukraine, said a press release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

The assurance came amid discussions over the plight of the Malayali students appearing on TV channels to express their fears over the constant shelling and gunfire in the foreign country. Also, the letter mentioned students, who trekked in the extreme cold, to cross into Poland and that the army was being used against them and urged the Centre to send Ukrainian-speaking officials there to resolve the issue.