The Indian Embassy in Ukraine has issued a statement asking Indian nationals to not to travel to Ukraine. The advisory was issued in view of the increasing hostilities being meted upon the East European country by Russia. 

“In view of the deteriorating security situation & recent escalation of hostilities across Ukraine, Indian nationals are advised against travelling to Ukraine. Indian citizens, including students, in Ukraine advised to leave Ukraine at earliest”, the statement

This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law Wednesday in the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow annexed and gave all regional governors in Russia emergency powers that open the door for sweeping new restrictions throughout the country.

Putin didn’t immediately spell out the steps that would be taken under martial law, but said his order was effective starting Thursday. His decree gave law enforcement agencies three days to submit specific proposals and orders the creation of territorial defense forces in the annexed regions.

A Russian missile strike hit a major thermal power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine on Wednesday, the region’s governor said, the latest in a wave of attacks on critical infrastructure ahead of winter.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said this week that 30% of Ukrainian power stations had been hit by strikes, met senior officials on Wednesday to discuss security at such facilities and the possibility of a breakdown in the energy system.

The latest salvo hit the coal-fired Burshtyn plant in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk that supplies electricity to three western regions and to 5 million consumers – more than 10% of Ukraine’s pre-war population.