Russia-Ukraine War: Indian Embassy not shut in Kiev, fully functional, says MEA

New Delhi, March 3: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the Indian Embassy in Kiev is not shut, however, a significant part of the Embassy had moved to Lviv. "Embassy is not shut in Kiev. A team of the Embassy in Kiev was asked to move to Lviv. We have an office now functioning in Lviv. We were trying to see if the other part of the team of the Embassy in Kiev can move to the Eastern side of the country but it is a dynamic process so I do not know exactly where they are. The embassy is fully functional," said MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi as he addressed a special briefing on Operation Ganga. For the unversed, an evacuation operation named 'operation Ganga' has been launched by the Indian government to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine amid Russia's military operation. However, Russian forces shelled a building at Sumy State University's military base in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy on Thursday morning. Also Read | Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine explains why is Russia invading it The mayor of Kherson said that the city had fallen on Wednesday and that Ukrainian forces had left. This comes after Russian forces encircled the strategically important city north of the Crimean Peninsula following many days of heavy combat. Meanwhile, Russian forces nearing Kiev, including a massive military convoy, "remain stalled," according to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby. It is possible that the forces are "regrouping," or that they're dealing with issues like supply shortages and Ukrainian resistance. According to the recent UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine, a big Russian military convoy stretching over 30 kilometres was delayed on Thursday due to fierce Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion. Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Know all about thermobaric weapons; Why should they be banned? -PTC News