India asks citizens to leave Ukraine as war escalates

NEW DELHI

India on Wednesday asked its citizens to avoid traveling to Ukraine in view of the "deteriorating security situation" in the country, which is battling Russian forces since February.

“In view of the deteriorating security situation and recent escalation of hostilities across Ukraine, Indian nationals are advised against travelling to Ukraine,” the Indian Embassy in Kyiv said in an advisory issued through their Twitter handle.

“The Indian citizens, including students, currently in Ukraine are advised to leave Ukraine at the earliest by available means,” said the advisory.

The statement came as Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, which were recently annexed from Ukraine following "sham" referendums.

Kyiv's forces have made advances in recent weeks, while Moscow called up more reservists and launched new attacks in Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, following an explosion on a strategic bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014.