24-year-old woman pilot from Kolkata flew over 800 students back to India amid Ukraine war

|HT|

A 24-year-old woman pilot from Kolkata flew over 800 students back to India amid Ukraine war, the BJP has tweeted, in praise for the crew that worked for bringing back students to their homes. "Mahasweta Chakraborty a 24-year-old pilot from Kolkata, rescued more than 800 Indian students from the border of Ukraine, Poland and Hungary. Huge Respect for her (sic)," a tweet by the BJP Mahila Morcha read. The BJP body also shared her pictures. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's vice president, Priyanka Sharma, in her tweet, said the 24-year-old was the daughter of the Bengal BJP Mahila Morcha chief. "She is Mahasweta Chakraborty, Daughter of Tanuja Chakraborty (President of WB State BJP Mahila Morcha) (sic)," her post read. More than 20,000 Indians are believed to have returned to their homes from Ukraine as Moscow's onslaught in the country - which began February 24 - enters the third week. The Kremlin is now inching closer to the capital city of Kyiv.

One Indian student was killed in the war-hit Kharkiv when he was out to buy groceries and the city was targeted in missile strikes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held several high-level meetings to take a stock of the situation from time to time as concerns emrerged over the safety of thousands. The opposition too had pressured the government to ensure speedy evacuations.

While the Ukrainian airspace remained closed, altnernative routes were chalked out from border countries of Poland, Hungary, Slovak Republic and Romani and special flights were arranged. Some union ministers were also sent to the border countries to oversee the operations.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)