The Indian embassy in Kyiv continues to function as usual, but calls on Indian citizens in Ukraine to consider temporarily leaving the country. “In view of the uncertainties of the current situation in Ukraine, Indian nationals in Ukraine, particularly students whose stay is not essential, may consider leaving temporarily. Indian nationals are also advised to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine,” the embassy said in a statement published on its website.
The embassy also asked Indian citizens to inform it of the status of their presence in Ukraine to enable the embassy to reach them where required.
“The embassy continues to function normally to provide all services to Indian nationals in Ukraine,” it said.
Ukraine and India have significant potential for cooperation in the military-technical sphere, in matters of energy security and overcoming the energy crisis, as well as combating the COVID-19 pandemic, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov said at a meeting with Ambassador of India to Ukraine Partha Satpathy.
According to the NSDC press service on Wednesday, Danilov also named the joint efforts in the field of climate change and environmental protection as priority areas of bilateral cooperation. “We are on the verge of great shifts in bilateral cooperation,” the NSDC secretary said.
The parties discussed the prospects for practical cooperation, in particular, in the field of security, agriculture, pharmaceutical and titanium industries and others, and also noted the importance of developing scientific and technical cooperation.
The meeting took place on the occasion of completion of a diplomatic term of Ambassador Satpathy in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, new border crossing rules have been introduced for all unvaccinated persons who have been in Russia or India for more than seven days over the past two weeks, according to the Coronavirus Info Telegram channel.
In particular, a mandatory 14-day self-isolation is established for all unvaccinated persons who have been in Russia or India for more than seven days in the last two weeks.
It is noted that crossing the state border for Ukrainians arriving from any country is unhindered if there is a full course of vaccination or a 063-O certificate of the first vaccination.
“Foreigners are required to have an insurance policy and one of the documents: negative PCR test (72 hours in advance), negative antigen test (72 hours in advance), and a full course of vaccination,” the message says.
It is emphasized that in the absence of the necessary documents, the Vdoma application is installed and the person begins self-isolation after 72 hours, if the result of testing for COVID-19 by PCR or rapid testing for the determination of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus antigen, made already in Ukraine after crossing the border, is positive.
“If it is impossible to use the Vdoma application, the person will be under observation,” the message says.
Ukraine is changing the rules for crossing the border, in particular, it will oblige those entering from Russia and India to undergo 14-day self-isolation, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said during a government meeting on Wednesday.
“Unvaccinated foreigners and Ukrainians who arrived from Russia and India will be subject to special control. If they have spent the last seven days in these countries, they will be subject to mandatory self-isolation or observation for 14 days without the possibility of early termination,” he said.
“The new Delta coronavirus strain is actively spreading in Europe. A large outbreak is recorded in Russia. We propose new border crossing rules, which will take effect seven days after the official publication, in order to reduce the possibility of the spread of the virus in Ukraine. Also due to these changes, we we will be able to conduct better epidemiological investigations if a carrier is identified,” the minister said.
The government is exploring the possibility of strengthening control over visitors from the UK, India, Russia and Portugal to prevent the circulation of the “Delta” (Indian) strain of coronavirus (COVID-19), Health Minister Viktor Liashko said.
“At the Cabinet of Ministers we considered the possibility of strengthening control over people who come from four countries, Great Britain, India, Russia and Portugal, where the greatest circulation of the so-called Delta virus,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.
As noted by Liashko, the peculiarity of the Delta strain is that it is transmitted faster and leads to hospitalization faster.
“This leads to the fact that hospitals fill up rather quickly, in particular, we see this in Russia,” he said.
Ukraine has canceled special restrictions on entry into the country from India, introduced on May 2 this year due to the widespread of COVID-19 in this country. Resolution No. 611 dated June 16 was published in the Uryadovy Kurier newspaper on Thursday.
Since May 2, a complete ban was introduced on the crossing of the Ukrainian border by foreigners and stateless persons who arrived from India or stayed on its territory for at least seven days over the past 14 days.
An exception was made only for citizens of Ukraine and foreigners who permanently or temporarily reside in the territory of Ukraine, who are spouses or children of citizens of Ukraine, for whom the requirement of mandatory self-isolation was established, regardless of the presence and result of PCR testing. However, now this requirement has also been annulled.
