The government on Sunday decided to temporarily relocate the Indian embassy in Ukraine to Poland because of the “rapidly deteriorating security situation in Ukraine”, including the western parts of the country.

The embassy had already closed its operations in capital Kyiv on March 1 and relocated staff to Lviv near the Polish border, where many Indians seeking to leave Ukraine had converged.

Another team of embassy staff had moved eastwards to coordinate the evacuation of Indians, mostly students, out of Kharkiv and Sumy which were part of the initial conflict zones in the east.

Apart from the security situation, another deciding factor in relocating the mission is the government’s assessment that all the Indians known to be living in Ukraine and eager to leave have left.

Announcing the decision, the external affairs ministry said: “In view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Ukraine, including attacks in the western parts of the country, it has been decided that the Indian embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily relocated in Poland. The situation will be reassessed in the light of further developments.”