Russian tourists to be evacuated on Saturday

Russian tourists stranded in India will be evacuated on Saturday from Thiruvananthapuram. The evacuation by Ural Airlines will take place by 2 pm and the tourists have to register at Uday Suites, Shanghumugham at 7 am on the same day.

The details have been shared to the tourists by the Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Thiruvananthapuram. The helpdesk contacts in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha and Ernakulam have been shared with the Russian consul.

The state tourism department has been undertaking efforts to evacuate the 175 stranded Russian tourists for the last one week. They had targeted the first week of April for the evacuation and met the target by coordinating all efforts seamlessly.

Most of the tourists are women and youngsters who were camping in Varkala, one of Kerala’s most scenic beaches. A WhatsApp group was created to coordinate the efforts and services of a Russian psychologist was made available to the tourists. The Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation and Director of the Russian Cultural Centre in Trivandrum, Ratheesh C. Nair, played a key role in this operation along with the tourism department, police and the Thiruvananthapuram airport officials.