Mumbai, Feb 24 (PTI) Filmmakers Onir and Rahul Dholakia were among some of the cinema personalities who condemned Russia's special military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in eastern Ukraine, claiming it's intended to protect civilians.

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Soon, a hashtag, StandWithUkraine also began trending on social media.

India on Thursday was finalising contingency plans to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine after Russia launched a large-scale military attack on its neighbouring country even as the European Union reached out to New Delhi for its contribution to defuse the "grave situation".

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With around 20,000 Indians stuck in Ukraine, the top brass of the government handling strategic affairs held a series of high-level meetings to put into operation certain contingency plans to assist the Indians.

Expressing his displeasure over the crisis, Dholakia tweeted: "Russia should back off - why is the world letting this happen? #RussiaAttackedUkraine."

Tagging a news report about Ukraine Envoy's reaction to India's position as Russia Attacks, Onir simply shared the hashtags, "#StandWithUkraine #StopRussianAggression."

Actor Tillotama Shome, whose mother is battling cancer in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, said "nothing is uglier than war".

"I worry incessantly for my mother who is battling cancer in the midst of covid. But when I think of the families and cancer patients in the middle of war, my brain just ceases to comprehend. Nothing absolutely nothing is uglier than war. Mother's don't give life for war," Shome said in a tweet.

Actor Sonu Sood, who shot to national limelight for helping several stranded migrant labourers return home during the first pandemic-induced lockdown, urged the Indian government to help evacuate Indian students and families from Ukraine.

"There are 18000 Indian students and many families who are stuck in Ukraine, I am sure Government must be trying their best to get them back. I urge Indian Embassy to find an alternate route for their evacuation," Sood tweeted.

As the Ukrainian government declared a state emergency and closed the country's airspace for civilian flights, the Indian embassy in Kyiv issued three separate advisories in the course of the day appealing to the Indians to maintain calm and remain safe wherever they are.

The embassy said in view of the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, alternative arrangements are being made for the evacuation of Indian nationals. However, it did not provide any clarity on evacuation arrangements.

Separately, the Indian ambassador to Ukraine, Partha Satpathy, called on Indians to face the current situation with "calm and fortitude" as the situation is "highly tense and very uncertain".

The envoy said the Ministry of External Affairs and the embassy are working on a "mission mode" to find a "solution to this difficult situation".

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)