Road show in Varanasi no show in Pisochyn: Sibal

New Delhi, March 5: The Congress on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for campaigning in his constituency Varanasi for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls at a time when thousands of Indian students are stranded in war-torn Ukraine. Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, "Ukraine:Our students stranded at Pisochyn, Road show at Varanasi, No show at Pisochyn, Sad but true."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi chaired the fifth high-level meeting on Friday to review progress of the ongoing evacuation of Indians from Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'. During the meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla briefed Modi about the progress of the evacuation mission and informed him that over 18,000 Indians have been brought back since the initial advisories by the Indian Embassy in Kyiv were put out.

The Prime Minister was also briefed on the status of Indians, mostly stuck in Odessa and Sumi areas close to the Russian border and discussed the possible ways for their safe evacuation. Sumi is located close to the Russian border and a gunfight is going on there. Modi has been chairing meetings almost every day since Sunday evening to discuss the evacuation progress. The evacuation process was ramped up soon after the four Union Ministers went to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to oversee 'Operation Ganga'.