New Delhi, Mar 11 (IANS): Union minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Friday morning received another group of students returning from Ukraine.

The students took flight from Rzeszow, a city in south eastern Poland, and landed in New Delhi.

In a tweet, Thakur said: "Welcome back home, another batch of students returned via #OperationGanga this morning and will reunite with their families and friends. We remain committed to the safety of every Indian citizen from Ukraine."

Thakur also met with the airline crew and pilots and appreciated their service and support to the Government's efforts in bringing our citizens back home. In another tweet, the office of Anurag Thakur said: "Union Minister @ianuragthakur receives students safely brought back from Ukraine under Operation Ganga. He also met with the airline crew and pilots and appreciated them for their service and support to the Government's efforts in bringing our citizens back home."

'Operation Ganga' launched to rescue Indian citizens from Ukraine's neighbouring countries started on February 22. Till March 8, about 18,000 Indians have been brought back through the special flights. The number of Indians airlifted by 75 special civilian flights goes up to 15,521. IAF had flown 12 missions to bring back 2,467 passengers, as part of Operation Ganga, and carried over 32 tonne relief material.

Among the civilian flights, 4,575 passengers have been brought from Bucharest by 21 flights, 1820 from Suceave by nine flights, 5571 from Budapest by 28 flights, 909 by five flights from Kosice, 2404 from Rzeszow by 11 flights, and 242 persons by a flight from Kyiv.