Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday night on the Ukraine crisis as India stepped up its efforts to evacuate its citizens, mostly students, from the country under attack from Russia.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal besides senior officials attended the meeting.

Modi has held a series of meetings since Sunday to spearhead India's efforts to safely bring back its nationals, asserting that this is his government's top priority.

Earlier in the day, the Indian embassy in Ukraine asked all Indian nationals to leave Kharkiv immediately to safe zones or further westwards.

The external affairs ministry has assured that every Indian citizen will be brought back from Ukraine.