New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) Underlining that the government has been keeping an eye on the situation in Ukraine since January, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the successful evacuation of Indians from the war-hit country will have a positive impact on the ongoing assembly polls.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Shah said the government had issued an advisory as early as February 15 for Indians in Ukraine.

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Russia launched its military offensive against Ukraine on February 24.

The government has been keeping an eye on the situation in Ukraine since January, he said.

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"Over 13,000 citizens have reached India and more flights are coming in. This process had a positive impact on elections and on the people also," Shah said.

The government launched 'Operation Ganga' for the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine.

Shah said, "The government sent Russian-speaking teams to four nearby countries of Ukraine and also set up a control room. Till March 4, we were successful in bringing out 16,000 citizens from Ukraine."

With the Ukrainian airspace having been shut since February 24 due to the ongoing Russian military offensive, Indian citizens who were stuck in Ukraine are being airlifted via its neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.

The last of the seven-phase assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held on March 7. Votes will be counted on March 10, along with that of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

(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)