Daily News Dose: India begins evacuation of nationals stranded in Ukraine | Feb 26, 2022

Hello listeners, this is your Daily Dose of News from Onmanorama. I'm your host Haritha Benjamin.

Once again the Ukraine crisis has grabbed most the major headlines across the globe. These are the main stories for the day.

1. Air India evacuation flight carrying Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine is expected to land in Mumbai tonight from Romania

2. India & China abstain from UNSC resolution against Russian agression in Ukraine, Russia excerises veto

3. double whammy for kerala couple Man held by Yemeni army, wife in Ukraine bunker

4. 'Need ammunition, not a ride,' Ukranian President declines US offer to evacuate Kyiv

5. India records 11,499 fresh COVID-19 infections on Saturday

An Air India Boeing aircraft has departed from Romanian capital Bucharest with Indians from Ukraine. the flight is expected to reach Mumbai tonight. 

The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since the morning of February 24 and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest.

According to officials, around 20,000 Indians, mainly students, are currently stranded in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy on Saturday advised its stranded nationals in Ukraine to exercise caution at all times and not move to any border posts to exit the country without prior coordination with its officials.

Russia vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Friday that would have deplored Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, while China, India and UAE abstained from the vote.

Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment. It is a matter of regret that the path of diplomacy was given up. We must return to it. For all these reasons, India has chosen to abstain on this resolution, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said.

The UNSC draft resolution deplored in the strongest terms Russia's aggression against Ukraine and demanded that Russia immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all its troops.

The resolution was blocked since permanent member Russia, and President of the Security Council for the month of February, used its veto.

A Malayali duo from Haripad in Alappuzha district is stranded in two corners of the world in hostile environments.

Akhil is being held by the Army of Yemen.  He was recently rescued from a cargo ship hijacked by the Houthi rebels whose insurgency has plunged the country into a disastrous civil war. 

His wife  Jithina, a medical student is now holed up in a bomb shelter in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine which is struggling to fend off invasion by the Russian military.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the US government but turned down the offer.

Zelenskyy said in response: The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation.

He made a renewed assurance that the country's military will stand up to the Russian invasion.

In a video recorded on the street in downtown Kyiv, Zelenskyy said he hasn't left the city and dispelled claims that Ukraine's military would lay down its weapons.

11,499 people tested positive for coronavirus infection in India on Saturday while the active cases further declined to 1,21,881, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The death toll climbed to 5,13,481 with 255 daily fatalities. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.01 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 1.36 per cent.

That brings us to the end of today's episode. Please come back tomorrow for more of Daily News Dose. 

As always, thank you for listening.