Ukraine crisis: PIA plane to bring over 300 stranded Pakistanis home tonight

ISLAMABAD: As part of the government’s efforts to repatriate stranded Pakistanis in war-hit Ukraine, a Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) chartered flight on Tuesday departed for Poland to bring back the countrymen who were evacuated to Warsaw temporarily following the Russian invasion.

According to a spokesperson of the national flag carrier, the PIA flight PK-7787 flew from Allama Iqbal International Airport at 7:23 (PST) and will land at 10 am (European Time) in Warsaw. The special plane will reach back at the Islamabad International Airport with over 300 Pakistanis on board tonight.

More flights will also be operated to evacuate the stranded Pakistanis in line with the directions of the government, the spokesperson added.  

When the crisis began on February 24, there were around 7,000 Pakistanis in Ukraine (community 4,000, students 3,000), the majority of whom had already departed the country on the advice of the Pakistan Embassy.

98% Pakistanis evacuated from Ukraine: embassy

On March 4, Pakistan had almost completed the evacuation of its citizens stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion.

Russian forces are yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv but thousands were reported to have died or been injured and more than a million people had fled Ukraine in the week since President Vladimir Putin ordered the biggest attack on a European state since 1945.

“The Embassy of Pakistan Ukraine has safely evacuated 98% of Pakistanis from Ukraine. Now only those few (around 30) Pakistanis are left in Ukraine who are stuck in areas of intense fight,” the mission had said in an update on Twitter.

The statement had added that the embassy had approached both Ukraine and Russia for opening up a humanitarian corridor that will enable it to evacuate the remaining Pakistanis.