Indian students who are in Kyiv appeal for their evacuation.
Hyderabad:
Cook food in the confines of house in the morning and take refuge in the nearby bunkers all through the day. This has become routine for several Telugu students who are caught in the war-torn Ukraine for the past a few days. Worst is the situation for students who are staying in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, which has been witnessing heavy bombardment from the Russian forces.
“On February 23 at 3.30 am, we heard the first heavy explosion nearby our house that was deafening. The bombing was followed thereafter. Last night, an oil factory was bombed and fire could be seen from far of places. We are really scared for our lives. We are cooking in the house and staying in bunker,” says Sai Naik, a Warangal native who is staying in Kyiv with seven other students.
As the war-torn Ukraine announced martial law which includes curfew, all establishments have shut their shops. While some students had managed to stock-up, but needless to say, they do not last long.
“We bought groceries and other edibles for five days and we are already into the fourth day the food stock for one-day left. We have no idea what we will do now as all stores are closed since February 24.|
There is a shortage of water as well,” said Naik, who is a student of Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv.
Another student from Hyderabad, Gulam Ahmed Mohiuddin Salman who is currently taking shelter in Kyiv Medical University hostel said there were no responses from the Indian Embassy officials regarding their evacuation.
“There are 200 Indian students presently in the hostel basement. We are running short of groceries and other provisions. Given the situation with no transportation facility, it is impossible for us to travel to the Ukraine border which is 800 kms away from the hostel,” Salman said.
Naik, Salman and several other Indian students have made desperate appeals to the Indian government to at least transport them to the nearest border post.
Shoot at sight orders
“Shoot at sight orders was issued by the Ukraine government, so we cannot move out. We want the Indian government to help us reach the Ukraine border so that we can board a flight from neighbouring country,” Naik appealed.
source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home / by Yuvraj Akula / February 27th, 2022
Students are hoping for rehabilitation in India or admission in similar universities in European countries like Poland as a special case for Indian students
Uncertainty looms large over the fate of students who safely returned to India from Ukraine as some of them feel that continuing medical education in the war-ravaged country would be tougher, challenging and unreliable and parents may refuse to send them back in the present circumstances.
In Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajnagar, several students have returned safely and a few more are on their way. What has been bothering the returnees is “what next”.
Though discussions are ongoing in various circles on whether to permit the affected students to continue their education in Indian colleges, a clear picture on their future may emerge once all safely return to the country with the Centre’s ‘Operation Ganga’ in the final stages of evacuation in Ukraine.
“I’m worried about my future. I don’t know whether my parents will send me back to Ukraine if the situation returns to normal though it appears to be highly uncertain with Russian militia advancing. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have put in three years and I was about to be promoted to fourth year. I am hopeful something will emerge as India will work out a solution in students’ interests,” said Likith, who returned from Kharkiv.
Like Likith, his friends and classmates in Kodagu and Mysuru are hoping that the medical colleges or universities in Europe may also consider admitting the affected students from Ukraine since the education system is almost similar in many European countries. In solidarity with Ukraine, the European institutions, as a special case, may admit the students, after fulfilling the formalities. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia and other countries may consider admission, they hope.
“I and my friends and I have decided to wait and watch the developments. We cannot say what happens in the days ahead. We are hoping that our interests will be protected,” said Likith, a student of Kharkiv National Medical University, who spent a harrowing time with eight others in a bunker in Kharkiv after the Russian invasion.
Sharukh M.Y., who returned to his hometown in Virajpet taluk in Kodagu on Sunday, is hoping that the government of India will come up with a plan to address the returnees’ plight.
“I am hoping that my university in Ukraine will start online classes at the earliest. It has told us it will update us by March 15. With the war on, everything appears uncertain. I’m in the sixth semester. I would have been promoted to fourth year but the crisis forced us to vacate. I am open to all options,” said Shah Rukh, who is a student of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Kharkiv.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National >Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Myusru – March 07th, 2022
In the video, the student is seen walking with food in his hand. He was saying that the kind of suffering he is facing is beyond description.
A view of the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Photo | AP)
New Delhi :
A student from Lakshadweep pursuing MBBS in Ukraine was trolled online for putting up videos of his experience in the war-torn country.
Aousaf Hussain, a fourth-year student of Kharkiv National Medical University, was criticised by persons from Kerala and Lakshadweep for going out and getting food for his friends who are living in a bunker in Kharkiv.
The trolls attacked him for walking in the war zone, eating and taking videos of soldiers.
In the video, the student is seen walking with food in his hand. He was saying that the kind of suffering he is facing is beyond description.
“Will someone contact the Indian embassy? What discussions are they having at this point of time? I don’t understand why they are wasting time on discussions”.
After the trolling, Aousaf went into depression. His mother was also hospitalised and had to be kept under observation.
According to his friends, Aousaf had stepped out of the shelter to get food because none of them had eaten anything that day.
“Shawarma was the only food available nearby. After packing the food for his friends, he was rushing back. Because he was hungry, he started eating his share,” said his friend Shana M Shaji.
In the video, Aousaf is also seen saying that he was stopped by some soldiers for shooting videos.
They did not come in an army vehicle, but a car. They asked him to delete the video. He thought he was going to be killed, but somehow managed to escape from the scene.
According to Afsal Husain, Aousaf’s elder brother, this video came under attack from people who posted comments saying he should be killed in the battlefield.
“Some right-wing social media accounts with around 2 million followers asked the Indian government to not evacuate him.”
Another video posted by Aousaf with his female friends also became the target of trolls. The girls allege that a large number of trolls had religious colour.
“We were wearing hoodies in the video and that was thought to be hijab. We were alerted by our parents that online comments are calling us terrorists,” said Shana.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by Ankita Upadhyay, Express News Service / March 08th, 2022
Over 17,100 nationals rescued from the war-torn country so far.
A medical student at the Sumy University, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed that the buses have arrived and students have started boarding the buses. File Picture.
Several Indian students stranded in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy heaved a sigh of relief as their evacuation process started on Tuesday and hoped that they would be in a safe zone soon.
“The evacuation from Sumy has started. There was finally some good news on Tuesday. All Indian students will be evacuated from Sumy on Tuesday itself. They will be taken to a safe location from where they will be brought to India,” said Anshad Ali, a student coordinator.
A medical student at the Sumy university, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed that buses have arrived and students have started boarding the buses.
“We have been told that we will go to Poltava. I am praying that we reach a safe zone and this misery is over,” he told PTI from Sumy.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters here that 694 Indian students, who were stranded in Sumy, left for Poltava in buses on Tuesday.
“Last night, I checked with the control room, 694 Indian students were remaining in Sumy. Today, they have all left in buses for Poltava,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday on ways to start the stalled evacuation process of the Indian students from Sumy, which is being pummelled by the invading Russian forces.
India has so far brought back over 17,100 of its nationals from Ukraine while Indian students remained stuck in Sumy, with their evacuation dependent on the facilitation of a safe passage by Russian and Ukrainian authorities.
“We stood in a queue for three hours in freezing cold on Monday, waiting to board the buses, and then, we were told that we cannot go. Thankfully, we left Sumi on Tuesday. I am hoping that we will be in a safe zone soon,” Aashiq Hussain Sarkar, another medical student, told PTI.
Sumy has been witnessing intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops for days now. India has been making efforts to evacuate its citizens from the northeastern Ukrainian city, but with little success due to the heavy shelling and airstrikes.
With no electricity and water supply, ATMs running out of cash, melting snow to slake their thirst, and fast running out of supplies, hundreds of Indian students trapped in Sumy stood on roads every morning, hoping that “today would be the day” when they would be rescued from the savagery of the war that has engulfed Ukraine.
The wait, however, got longer as fierce fighting blocked their way to safety across the Russian border.
Exasperated, the students posted a video clip on social media platforms on Saturday, saying they had decided to walk to the Russian border in biting cold amid the fighting, raising fears about their safety on the corridors of power in New Delhi.
Soon after the video went viral, the Indian government asked the students not to take unnecessary risks and to remain in shelters and assured them that they would be rescued soon.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> India / by The Telegraph Bureau, PTI / New Delhi / March 08th, 2022
The Union minister also spoke to the students on their return from Bucharest and assured safety of the people who are yet to be evacuated.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, Scindia said that approximately 13,000 Indians are stranded in Ukraine as of now.
When Aarushi Mamgain, a third-year MBBS student, walked out of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, she felt weak with relief. The wait for this moment had been a long and anxious one.
Mamgain, a resident of Dehradun, was among the 688 Indian nationals — mostly students — who were brought back on Sunday from the war-torn Ukraine onboard three flights arranged by the Union government as part of Operation Ganga.
While the first flight from Bucharest (Romania) with 250 passengers onboard landed in Delhi around 2.55am and was received by Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and minister of state for external affairs ministry V Muraleedharan, the second, coming from Budapest (Hungary), brought 240 passengers and landed at 9.30am. Another Air India flight from Bucharest with 198 Indian nationals landed in Delhi at 5.35pm.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, Scindia said that approximately 13,000 Indians are stranded in Ukraine as of now. “You know it is an extremely sensitive situation there (Ukraine). In this situation, we are talking with each Indian national, including students, through telecommunications,” he said. “We will bring them back as soon as possible,” he said.
The Union minister also spoke to the students on their return from Bucharest and assured safety of the people who are yet to be evacuated.
“I know you all have been through a very, very difficult time, a very, very trying time. But know this that the PM is with you at every step, the Indian government is with you at every step, and 130 crore Indians are with you at every step,” he told the returnees.
“PM Sh @narendramodi Ji, along with all the government agencies are working round the clock to ensure every Indian is brought back home quick & safe. #OperationGanga,” Scindia tweeted later in the day.
Mamgaim said her scheduled flight to Delhi was on February 24, but the same day Ukraine closed its airspace for commercial flight operations. “I was on a train to Kyiv airport when I got to know about it. Though our college helped us get back to the premises and even cross the Ukrainian border, it was a situation I have never seen before and I wish that I never get to face it again,” she told HT as she stepped out of the airport.
Relieved at her safe return, she said she was worried for her friends still stuck at the border of the European country.
“When I was there, around 250 of us were awaiting our turn to enter Romania, but now there is a chaos at the Ukrainian border and thousands have gathered, waiting to return to India. I have been receiving calls from their parents and all this is making me anxious,” she said.
Following the Russian military offensive against Ukraine, India has brought back a total of 907 stranded citizens from that country since Saturday, when the first evacuation flight from Bucharest with 219 people on board landed in Mumbai under Operation Ganga.
Only 24 hours ago, most of these students were hiding in their university hostels, even as sounds of airstrikes and gun-firing rattled cities in Ukraine. For parents of some of these students, it was a miracle of sorts to see their children return safely.
“The last few days have been tough on all parents. It was getting tough to sleep, knowing our child is stuck out there and there is a war raging on,” said Brijesh Tyagi, who came from Yamunanagar to pick up his daughter.
Diya Devgun, a first-year MBBS student at the Uzhhorod National Medical University, said while the impact of the war was yet to reach the city in Western Ukraine, the threat of invasion loomed for weeks.
“My father had booked a flight for February 27 a couple of weeks in advance after it seemed like Russia may attack. But the attack happened before we had anticipated and all flights were cancelled. As fate would have it I am safely back in my country on the same date,” she said.
A trio of first-year students from the same university in Uzhhorod — Meraj Ahmed, Mohammad Izhar and Moin Khan — were among the 240 students who were ferried on a bus to neighbouring Budapest, from where the Air India flight AI1940 rescued them.
“There are still over 1,500 Indian students stuck in our university alone. Since only 240 could be accommodated in this flight, we were asked by the university administration to fill our details on an online portal, through which the 240 students were chosen randomly,” said Khan.
Chiming in, Izhar said while they only had to pay the fare of the bus, the flight tickets were booked by the Indian government. “We constantly kept receiving voice or video calls from our family members and this rescue operation came at the right time. It is possible Uzhhorod could be attacked soon,” he said.
A majority of the students rescued in the two flights on Sunday are from medical universities in western Ukraine. However, most of the students who spoke to HT said they knew of more students who are still hiding in bunkers.
“I personally know people stuck in Kharkhiv, who are hiding in bunkers and are short on food too. The situation is gradually becoming worse and we were lucky to be only 30 km away from the Hungarian border and could be rescued swiftly,” said Bansi Pratap Singh, another medical student who had only gone to Ukraine in December last year to start his course.
Harsh Yadav, a medical student at the Bukovinian State Medical University (BSMU) in Chernivtsi, was part of the flight that landed at 9.30am.
“Those stuck in major cities like Kyiv seem to be bearing the brunt of the attacks. While we were getting rescued, we were getting contacted by other students who are also desperately waiting to return,” Yadav said.
Government officials from different states were also present at the Delhi airport, from where students were ferried to their hometowns. Rahul, an official representing the Haryana government, said cabs had been arranged for all Haryana residents, while others could be picked up from the Haryana Bhawan in Delhi.
A similar arrangement has been made at the Karnataka Bhawan. “A list had been prepared of all Karnataka students and they will now be taken to the Karnataka Bhawan, from where their families can bring them home,” said Ravi Kumar, an official from the southern state.
(with agency inputs)
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India News / by Jasjeev Gandhok, Neha Tripathi, New Delhi / February 27th, 2022
Zenab and Kulsoom, residents of Old Delhi, say they felt completely helpless while returning from Ukraine as they were neither able to speak Ukrainian language nor got any help from Indian authorities.
Zeba and Kulsoom
“We could see three shells falling when we were walking towards the railway station. It was for the first time that we saw death so near,” recollects Zenab, who recently returned from Ukraine’s Kharkiv along with her sister Kulsoom.
These young girls, who saw death from up and close, say they felt completely helpless while returning from Ukraine as they were neither able to speak the Ukrainian language nor got any help from Indian authorities.
The two sisters, residents of Old Delhi, completed their primary education in Dubai before going to pursue further studies in Ukraine. The two young girls stayed together at same hostel and for that they had to fight with the university authorities, but their struggle turned out to be a blessing in disguise as during war they stayed together which was a big relief for both of them.
“I was so tense that they should remain together; even while returning I asked them to hold their hands tightly,” says their mother, Ghazala Salim.
Zenab and Kusoom, who were pursuing MBBS and MBA courses and never witnessed even a street fight during their life, had a horrifying experience of witnessing a full-fledged war. They, along with their friends, stayed in the bunker of a metro station and had to live on one meal a day as there was shortage of both food and money.
“We were allowed to use the washroom only once in 24 hours and we were not allowed to send videos or talk with our parents on mobile as per instructions, as Ukrainian authorities feared that the videos could be used for propaganda by the enemy,” recalls Kulsoom.
They witnessed tanks standing facing their hostel and even saw that certain signs were put on buildings which were to be targeted. The Russian army also hoisted their national flag atop the university.
“Our group finally decided to move out and one of our friends asked everyone to carry only water and food with very few clothes,” says Zenab.
They walked for two hours before reaching the railway station to catch a train for Lviv. Once they reached there, the group faced several problems. “Train authorities were only allowing local people first and after that girls were given permission whereas non locals boys were not allowed to board the train and were even roughed up. Traveling in the train was very suffocating too as it was very crowded,” they recalled.
On way to Lviv, they passed through Ukrainian capital Kyiv where heavy shelling was taking place. When the group reached Lviv, their parents advised them to move towards Romania instead of Poland and Hungary.
“The Romanian people were very nice and cooperative,” recalls Zenab.
Both the sisters said that from Kharkiew to Romania they did not receive any help from Indian authorities except they came to tell us that we have to check in from this point.
These sisters, who went to Kharkiv in December last year, miss studying in the university and want to return as soon as the situation returns to normal.
They said that there was huge a language problem, but otherwise also local people didn’t communicate with foreigners. They used Google Translate for their daily needs but in three months, they grew fond of their institution. “The girls feel terrible watching the news of bombardment in Ukraine, and miss their university a lot,” says Ghazal, the mother of the two girls.
Mohd. Salim, the father of the two sisters, is an engineer and was working in Dubai before he returned to Delhi just after Covid two years back. He is now running an eatery in Delhi and also has a distributorship of cosmetics. “The education is not cheap in these universities, but the education is very good,” he says.
The parents underwent an extremely stressful time for ten days but feel relieved now that their daughters have returned home safely.
“A WhatsApp group of parents was our only source of information from Ukraine as our daughters were so terrified that they just followed the instructions and only messaged that they are safe and not to worry,” says Ghazala.
source: http://www.nationalherald.com / National Herald / Home> India / by S Khurram Raza / March 08th, 2022
Hasna Iqbal (left) and Muhammed Nahid. Screenshots/ Manorama News
“They may shoot us,” said Hasna Iqbal, a Malayali student stranded in Kharkiv, the northeastern Ukrainian city that is under immense shelling from Russian forces on Wednesday.
Talking to Manorama News from the Vokzal metro station in Kharkiv at 3.45 pm (7.15 pm IST), the second-year medical student in Ukraine said they are unsure of what might happen next.
The student’s response comes hardly an hour after the Embassy of India in Kyiv issued a couple of advisories asking Indian citizens in Kharkiv to exit the city immediately.
The Embassy had reportedly acted in a haste based on Russian inputs. Vladimir Putin’s forces had been launching heavy attacks on the northeastern city the last two days.
“I don’t know what the Indian government wants us to do. Here there is a curfew from 4 pm to 6 am. If we are found outside during the curfew, they will shoot out,” Hasna said, braving tears. “There is heavy shelling and on top of it, we can hear gunfires.”
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Kharkiv has, possibly, the biggest concentration of Indians in Ukraine. “At least 1,000 Indians are here,” Hasna said.
“Many have left by foot holding Indian flags. We don’t know what has happened to them. Things are getting worse here,” she said.
“Some of us reached the railway station at 6 am and three trains have left since. But not an Indian was allowed to board. They are giving preference to Ukrainians,” said Hasna.
“We’ll be here and hope to be safe, Insha Allah,” she added.
‘They aimed guns at us’
Another Malayali student Muhammed Nahid, who spoke to Manorama soon after, said they have not been contacted by the Embassy yet today.
“We reached the railway station at 5 am. They are boarding Ukrainians. They (Ukrainian forces) point guns at us and fired into the sky. We don’t know what to do,” said Nahid.
“We are still hanging around hoping we may be able to board a train somehow. We are running out of water and food,” he added.
source: http://www.onmanorama.com / OnManorama / Home> News> Kerala / by Onmanorama Staff / March 02nd, 2022
Kapoorpoor Village (Gopalgang District),Bihar, INDIA / UKRAINE :
Rashid was one of the countless students stuck in Ukraine, without any government aid, when the war broke out.
Rashid Rizwan and other Indian students at the Ukraine-Hungary border. (Special arrangement)
Over the last few weeks, users of social media have sifted through, cross-checked and reshared posts and videos of Indian students stuck in Ukraine. However, one video, in particular, stood out. The subject of the video, Rashid Rizwan, a student of medicine in Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk national medical university, can be seen remarking in a video posted a few days ago, “Isse acha toh mar hi jaate,” (We might as well have died instead of suffering this way.)
Even a superficial viewing of the video makes it clear that Rashid was distraught. His eyes, still glassy with leftover tears speak volumes. He asks how long he can cope. (Kitna sambhale khud ko?) As the video progresses, Rashid says, in a shaky, fearful tone that “yahan par puchne wala koi nahi hain. (There is no one here to enquire after our well-being)”
Rashid, who is a native of Gopalganj district of Bihar, was critical of the Citizenship Amendment Act introduced by the Union government in 2019 and in fact protested against it in his university in Ukraine. He also stood in solidarity with the countless victims of the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
Further, Rashid clarified that he was open to the Citizenship Amendment Act but was uneasy with one community alone being sidelined. “Constitution toh WE the people se shuru hota hain na ma’am? Ab woh WE main Muslims nahi aate kya? (The Constitution starts with We the people no? Does that not include Muslims?)” he asks.
Victim-blaming students stuck in Ukraine
When asked about why he stayed put in Ukraine, when the advisory asked them to leave, Rashid stated that universities in Ukraine demand 100% attendance. If they left without coordinating with the universities, they would lose out on an entire year of education and further waste a huge sum of money.
This was made worse by the fact that Turkish visas were not readily available and the students could not book tickets to India directly. “The flight ticket prices kept soaring. At a point it was between 80,000 and 1,20,000 INR,” says Rashid.
After countless hours of debilitating panic (nearly two days), embassy officials approached Rashid and his companions at the Hungary border, to aid their return to India.
“We were asked to go to the nearest west Ukrainian border and so we obeyed. I, along with a few others was at the Ukraine-Hungary border. Then a new advisory stated that only students who could arrange for cars or buses should move towards the borders of the country. If we knew this in advance, we would have stayed put. Why are we being judged and maligned?” asks Rashid.
Rashid also tried to coordinate with the embassy and the university from February 14 but was met with either a tepid response or no response at all. He also wrote letters to the District Magistrate of Gopalganj and MP Alok Kumar Suman for aid the day Ivano-Frankivsk city was attacked.
A Doctor’s dream:
Towards the end of his narration, this reporter asked Rashid why he chose to become a doctor. He said that there was no doctor in his village for a very long time. “In Kapoorpur village (in Gopalganj district of Bihar), we don’t have a readily accessible doctor. Anyone seeking treatment has to travel 12 kilometres to the nearest dispensary. I wanted to relieve some of the distress caused by poverty,” he simply remarked.
At the time of writing this article, only 3,352 Indian students have returned to India from Ukraine as per government estimates.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> India / by Anjana Meenakshi/ March 04th, 2022 (edited )
Payal Panwar, a final year medical student who returned to her Kotdwar home in Uttarakhand, said the stranded students need help of the Indian government and the Indian embassy people more.
Ukrainian soldiers inspect a damaged military vehicle after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. (Photo | AP)
Indore / Aurangabad / Dehradun :
Depleting food stocks and long queues for water are adding to the trauma of stranded Indian students in war-hit Ukraine awaiting evacuation amid reports of some being roughed up by security personnel and spending freezing nights out in the open.
As Indian and Ukrainian authorities on Monday described the situation as “complex” and “very difficult” in terms of evacuation of people, the students, joined by their parents, appealed to the Indian government to expedite efforts to evacuate them.
Russia launched its attack on Ukraine last Thursday.
“I want my son in front of my eyes as soon as possible,” said Kamini Sharma, who is praying for the safe return of Vibhor Sharma (22), a resident of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
Vibhor is pursuing a medical course at the Ternopil National Medical University.
Payal Panwar, a final year medical student who returned to her Kotdwar home in Uttarakhand, said the stranded students need help of the Indian government and the Indian embassy people more while they are still inside Ukraine rather than when they have moved out of the war-torn country.
“The problems end when you cross the borders but while you are inside Ukraine it is really difficult with food supplies running out and no cash in ATMs. Stranded students need the help of Indian authorities while they are still inside Ukrainian borders,” said Payal, who studies in Ivano-Frankivsk city in western Ukraine.
Recounting her ordeal, she said around 60-70 Indian students had to book a bus and also walk a distance of 8-10 km in freezing cold to reach the Romanian border to get out of Ukraine.
Many ATMs could not dispense cash and long queues of men and women waiting for their turn for food supplies were seen at several points, she said.
Though happy and relieved to be reunited with her parents, Payal and her parents are worried about her brother who was still stuck in Kharkiv.
An Indian student who managed to reach the Kyiv train station said Ukrainian guards were not allowing students to board trains and also beating up people and made a fervent appeal to the Indian embassy to evacuate them as soon as possible.
“It’s getting difficult for us to stay here,” Ansh Pandita told PTI, as scores of Indian students, including women, sat huddled together at the teeming Vokzal railway station in the Ukrainian capital, holding a large tricolour aloft so they could be recognised in the crowd and also so no one from the group gets lost.
The group of about 100 students managed to reach the station but no one could board a train.
“Ukrainian soldiers are not allowing us to board the train to Hungary. In fact, they are not allowing any international resident to get out,” Pandita, a student of Taras Shevchenko National Medical University in Kyiv, said over the phone from the station.
“We requested them to at least allow the girls to go but that request too fell on deaf ears.”
The opposition Congress also alleged that Indian students were assaulted by security personnel on the Ukraine-Poland border.
“Students are crying out for help, requesting the Modi government to intervene but to no avail.
We saw a video last night on the Ukraine-Poland border where students are being beaten up,” party spokesperson Ragini Nayak told reporters.
India managed to accelerate its efforts to get its nationals out of Ukraine in the last 24 hours, though the situation on the ground continues to be “complex and fluid” in terms of evacuation of people, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
It said a total of 1,396 Indians were brought back home in six flights as part of the evacuation mission and the total number of Indians who have left Ukraine since India issued the first advisory earlier this month is around 8,000.
An estimated 20,000 Indian nationals, mainly medical students, reside in Ukraine.
As the battle for Kharkiv rages on, at least three students from Maharashtra pursuing medicine in the city located in northeast Ukraine, narrated how they had to stand in long queues for a can of water, drink soda, stay in bunkers, and risk their lives to fetch food items amid bomb blasts.
Hritik Bapulohar, a first-year medical student from Palghar, said he had reached Kharkiv city only a couple of months back.
“We can hear bomb explosions as they are taking place in a periphery of around 500 metres from where we are currently staying in Kharkiv. We are struggling even for basic needs. As many as 500 students are staying in two bunkers for the past four days. When the curfew was lifted some of them left the hostel. The situation is worsening fast. I appeal to the Indian government to evacuate us urgently,” he told a Marathi news channel.
Bapulohar’s senior Aishwarya Patil, who hails from Sangli, said drinking water stocks have exhausted at their Kharkiv hostel.
“We are currently using soda water for drinking. After standing in queues stretching up to 2 km, we can get a can of five-litre water. Food prices have tripled since the war began. We are taking huge risks by stepping out to purchase food items. We are hiding as bomb blasts are happening here. During nights, we are given an hour for cooking by authorities. We cook using mobile flashlights,” she said.
Shivanjali Yadav, also from Sangli, said students and other Indians are asked to stay in bunkers in Kharkiv even though we don’t have much food and water with us.
“The students trapped in a bunker in the Kharkiv region are facing difficulties in arranging food, water. Some of them have fallen sick in freezing temperatures, few blankets, and dipping oxygen. There are also no transportation facilities available for them,” said one of the students who returned to Odisha.
Several students wanting to return to India from Ukraine had to spend two days under the sky in severe cold weather at the Romanian border after travelling by bus and then walking for 25 km, a mother of one of the students said.
“My son somehow boarded a bus from Ternopil to reach Romania. But, on the way, he had to get down from the bus due to some problem and the border was still far away,” the Indore-based Kamini Sharma, told PTI.
The woman said her son along with several other Indian students walked for 25 km to reach the border of Romania.
“But, these students, gathered at the Romanian border, had to stay under the open sky for two days in the harsh winter weather as they were not allowed to enter Romania immediately,” she said quoting the phone conversation with her son.
Sharma said she has now come to know that clearance has been given for the entry of these Indian students into Romania on Monday morning.
Ukrainian Ambassador Igor Polikha said his country is helping the stranded Indians and extending assistance in their evacuation notwithstanding the “very difficult” ground situation.
Polikha said he himself reached out to some of the Ukrainian border guarding commanders requesting them to assist the Indians who are trying to exit the country through land borders.
“The situation is very difficult and complex. My resources are limited. We are victims of aggression. Still, we are trying to help people including those from other countries,” he told a media briefing in Delhi.
Polikha said the circumstances at the Ukraine-Poland border crossing are challenging as lakhs of people including diplomats, foreigners and Ukrainian citizens are queuing up to exit the war-hit country.
Trapped inside a bunker in Kharkiv city of Ukraine, Assoiun Hussain (25), who hails from Kerala, told PTI over phone on Monday that he only had a loaf of bread in the last 48 hours.
He said the bunkers are freezing 24X7 and are overcrowded, adding that they also lack basic amenities like water or bathrooms with doors.
“We bought four to five bedsheets and arranged them together for makeshift beds. We are sleeping near railway tracks and on platforms. Our jackets are worn out because it is very cold here. The conditions are quite bad here,” Hussain said.
Indian students trapped in Ukraine have also alleged racial discrimination against them by the locals.
Recently, videos showing Indians being attacked did the rounds of social media.
In one of the videos shot during night time, a student wheeling his suitcase behind him is kicked by a guard in uniform.
In another video, students claimed that they were being thrown off the train parked at a railway station in Kyiv and beaten with sticks.
Manogya Bora (19), who recently returned from the Poland border to Lviv, alleged that Indians are being subjected to racist attacks and students were beaten up.
“People here are telling us to go back to Ukraine. The situation is much worse for boys. I have seen boys being beaten up,” she said.
Talking further about the pitiable conditions in the bunkers, Hussain said, “I received a loaf of bread today. I did not get food yesterday. The Ukrainian authorities are providing food and medicine, including insulin and food for babies. However, priority is given to Ukrainians not Indians.”
“We are only getting what is left after distributing to Ukrainians,” he said.
The student said getting food from outside is not a cakewalk with continuous shelling underway.
Moreover, no food supplies are available in the market, he added.
“There is only one supermarket and there is nothing in there — only juices and water. We have self-respect, we cannot beg them. The Ukrainian authorities allowed us to go out to get fod because some locals complained that because of us, they are running out of food fast,” he said.
“I tried going out today, but ran back as there was continuous shelling,” Hussain added.
Kharkiv is among the Ukrainian cities where the situation is dire with continuous shelling.
Thousands have taken refuge in metro bunkers to protect themselves.
Recently, a nine-storey residential tower was hit, killing an elderly woman, while about 60 people survived after hiding in the basement.
21-year-old Shana Shaji of Kerala said there is continuous shelling.
“It appears as if the building will fall apart,” she said.
Thousands of Indian students are stranded in Ukraine after the Russian Army launched a brutal offensive last week.
With the war now entering the fifth day, the Indian government has been carrying out evacuations of its citizens from Romania and Hungary — neighbouring countries of Ukraine.
When asked about the evacuation process, Hussain said the embassy has asked the students to reach the western border at their own risk.
“It is not possible for us to reach borders. There is heavy shelling outside. In trains and buses, the priority is being given to Ukrainians,” he said.
Gujarat native Ronak Sherasiya, an MBBS student in Ukraine, was meant to take a morning flight out of Kyiv on Thursday, on way to India, but fate has so far brought him only out of the conflict-hit eastern European country.
The 18-year-old, a first year student at the Bukovinian State Medical University (BSMU) in Chernivtsi, a beautiful town in western Ukraine, about 500 km from capital Kyiv, told PTI over phone that he had “finally crossed the Ukrainian border and was now in Romania”.
“I was part of a group of students who travelled in a bus provided by our university. We alighted a little before the border, and then walked. We reached Ukraine-Romania border on February 25 at around 4 pm (local time). There were about 2,000-3,000 people, mostly Indians at the border. It was a massive crowd, and only a couple of MEA officials, so processing took time. After waiting for hours, we finally crossed the border and entered Romania at about 6 am (local time) on February 26,” he said.
“We are now lodged in a sports complex on the Romanian side, but airport is still far away. We have been provided food, and WiFi connectivity has also been provided, but only limited number of people can join at a time. We are biding our time to fly out of Romania to India,” Sherasiya said.
Asked about various videos circulating on social media about alleged misbehaviour by security forces at some border area, he said, “Things are chaotic at the border area.”
“Ukrainian army personnel were asking people to move back, but when the commotion grew, some of the security personnel started firing in the air,” he claimed.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by PTI / February 28th, 2022
Indian students anxious as ATMs run out of cash and they run low on funds for food.
Sanabil SP, right, with Haneen Kuniyil, medical students in Ukraine at a bus station where they took shelter after explosions rocked Kiev airport. The students were booked to travel to Abu Dhabi when bombs hit the airport at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. Photo: Sanabil SP
Scores of Indian students fleeing Ukraine for their families in the UAE and home country were terrified when bombs went off at Kiev airport on Thursday, forcing them to leave the airport.
They heard Ukrainians shout out warnings: “The Russians are invading ,” as passengers ran out amid loud explosions.
Many students had booked flights home but their plans were shattered when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military assault on Ukraine.
After fleeing Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport, a group of 35 waited for more than 11 hours at a bus shelter trying to find safe accommodation.
“When I heard the blast I was too scared. People were shouting: ‘Russia is invading’. We saw jets flying above. People ran out of the airport,” said Milin Susan Joseph, 23, a fourth-year medical student who had a flight booked to Trivandrum, India.
Dubai resident Mohammed Adil Javad was on one of the last flights to leave Ukraine. The medical student landed in Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning before the attack on Ukraine began. Photo: Mohammed Adil Javad
“Everyone panicked. We just got more and more scared. We didn’t know where to go. We saw six to seven buses outside the airport and we just got in.”
The students took shelter at a nearby bus station with dozens of other travellers.
Many students had travelled the night before for about eight hours by road from Zaporizhzhia State Medical University to Kiev airport.
“We will try to get back to the university. We don’t know how safe it is to travel because people are being told to stay home,” Ms Joseph told The National.
The sight of armoured vehicles and soldiers on the streets has added to their anxiety.
“We can see tanks and military vehicles on the roads. Everyone is scared out of hell,” said Sanabil SP, 23, also a fourth-year student who was booked on a flight to his family’s home in Abu Dhabi.
“We heard two blasts as we were reaching the airport. People began rushing out of the airport. They were saying that the Russians had invaded.”
Another concern is access to money, because ATMs at the bus station ran out of cash. One group managed to reach the Indian embassy but were told they would need to make their own arrangements.
“The situation is real and scary for us. I really want people to know that we need help getting to a safe place,” said Mr Sanabil. “There is no money in the ATMs. You need money even to go to the public washrooms.
“The [Indian] embassy said they don’t have space for 30 students but we need help to find a safe place nearby.”
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India in Ukraine @IndiainUkraine
Third Advisory to all Indian Nationals/Students in Ukraine
By evening, they managed to contact other students living in universities in Kiev and hope to find shelter in dormitories.
Some took the last flight out of Ukraine before the air space was shut down and have reached the UAE.
“I’m safe now but half of me is still there [in Ukraine] because that is where my friends are,” said Mohammed Adil Javad, who landed in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, before the attack began.
“I’m hoping India will start an evacuation of students. They need help.
“There are students stuck between Zaporizhzhia and Kiev. They are in the middle of nowhere – not in the university and not at the airport. They are being told to find bomb shelters and tunnels for safety. We are all tense.”
About 18,000 Indian students are in Ukraine, according to government figures.
The embassy last week asked them to leave the country temporarily until the situation returned to normal.
But students said exorbitant air fares – more than 60,000 rupees ($792) one-way to India – and the absence of a clear message to evacuate meant that thousands remain in Ukraine.
“We would all left much before if we had been told we must leave immediately,” Mr Javad said.
“Also how can thousands of students leave in a few days? There are just not enough flights.”
The embassy said it was making arrangements for accommodation for students and asked them to familiarise themselves with the locations of bomb shelters.
“While the mission is identifying possible solution to the situation, please be aware of your surroundings, be safe, do not leave your homes unless necessary and carry your documents with you at all times,” the mission said.
source: http://www.thenationalnews.com / The National / Home> UAE / by Ramola Talwar Badam / February 24th, 2022
