Indian students stranded in Ukraine desperate for evacuation

The first batch of Indian students has been evacuated from war-torn Ukraine as Russian troops advanced. The Air India AI1943 which took off from the Romanian capital Bucharest reached Mumbai on Saturday evening with 219 evacuees on board. This evacuation happened almost 60 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops started on 24th February 2022, after this news broke out, the Indian embassy in Ukraine issued fresh guidelines for the Indian Nationals in Ukraine asking them to stay put. "Those who are in transit, please return to your familiar places of habitation and stay there," the embassy said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously facing criticism since the onset of this invasion by Russia, stranded students in Ukraine urge the Indian government to take a concrete stand on the evacuation process of these students. While Narendra Modi government also faces external pressure to take a stance on the Russian invasion.

News website News18 quoted Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan as saying that an estimated 20,000 Indian nationals resides in Ukraine, out of which 18,000 are students pursuing their education and the other 2,000 Indians are employed there.

Before the invasion happened, 4000 Indian Nationals returned to India in light of initial advisories regarding the tense situations between Russia and Ukraine.

India plans to evacuate Indian Nationals via Romania and Hungary, but it is a difficult road to take

The process of evacuation has been a challenge because Ukraine had shut down its airspace in view of the attacks by Russia. An Air India flight that took off to bring Indian Nationals back from Ukraine, was turned back to Delhi midway. On the first day of the ongoing crisis, the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement saying India had dispatched officers to the Ukrainian Capital Kyiv and neighbouring countries.

Later in the timeline of the crisis, India planned to evacuate Indian Nationals via Romania and Hungary. Students in Ukraine were asked to head towards the checkpoints. On Day-2 of Ukraine -Russia Conflict 470 students were to exit Ukraine as informed by Indian Embassy. These 470 students are headed to Mumbai and Delhi on different flights.

Indian Students in Western Ukraine are easier to be evacuated. While students in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and other cities towards the centre of Ukraine have to cover a lot of distance to reach to the borders where the evacuation process is underway.

Meanwhile, on Friday reports stated that 40 Indian medical students have managed to walk to the Ukraine-Poland border after they were dropped off by a college bus some 8 km away from the border.

Some stuck on the Poland border at -5 degrees while others stranded in bunkers

National Herald spoke to some Indian students who are stuck in Ukraine, students are petrified with the ongoing crisis in the besieged country. Many of these students are in Kharkiv and Kyiv (Capital City of Ukraine), apart from these NH also accessed information from students who are on the Poland border waiting for the evacuation.

Kyiv being the Capital city is experiencing massive attacks by the Russian troops.

"We are living in the bunkers, we are hearing sounds of shelling and bombs exploding outside,". Nishida, a first-year student of Kharkiv National Medical University told National Herald over the phone, adding that the students were informed by the Indian embassy that they would be coming to evacuate us but evacuations are going in the western region and we are really far from the place, how are we supposed to go or how long should we wait for the Indian embassy to come and rescue us.

"We are in a state of dismay. It's chilling -2 degrees and my friend has asthma, we are unable to get medicines at this point in time, even we cannot have access to sanitary needs, girls over here are having periods. It's a tough situation for us, we are living in bunkers (a safe shelter) for the past 2 days. Soon we will run out of food, got no response from the embassy people. There are nearly 200+ students in this bunker with me," she added.

Siddharth Singh is among several Indian students enrolled at Kharkiv National Medical University who are now stranded in Ukraine.

"I came to Ukraine 2 years ago. Students here were aware of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, but our universities were taking classes and we didn't want to miss those, since the covid outbreak already took a lot of time, we weren't able to attend classes. So now when we were taking offline classes we didn't want to return," Siddharth is taking shelter under the metro station in Kharkiv.

"We have to run to our flat which fortunately is 50 meters from the metro station where we are taking shelter, we go to our flats, cook and eat, while the lights are turned off. And then if we hear siren we rush back to the metro station to ensure our safety during these unprecedented times," he added.

Another student named, Aditi Chauhan, studies in Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University is reported to be on the Poland border with 200 (approximately) other Indian students. Aditi says, "We have been here for the past 30 hours, stuck with no food, no water, and no shelter, We are all sitting on roads in this dropping temperature. We aren't allowed to cross the Poland border as guards say they haven't got any information from the higher authorities."

"We came to the Ukraine-Poland border by our own transport and had to walk for 26 KM's to reach here and now they aren't letting us in," she added.

Nobody expected this, it is a grim situation: Amit Lath from Indo Polish Chamber of Commerce & Industry

National Herald talked to Amit Lath a member of the Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce & Industry over a WhatsApp call. He says, "Till Friday things were going quite smoothly, suddenly we hear from the students that they have come to the Ukraine-Poland border and the guards are not letting them in. As the details are followed by this afternoon, students are allowed to enter Poland. The Polish side is extremely welcoming in terms of helping Indian students on humanitarian grounds, even some of the Indian students' passports have been expired despite that we are letting them in."

"Our Ambassador has given a clear message on which border the students need to come to, and it is complete misinformation that students on the Poland border are not allowed to enter, if they are facing such issues then probably they aren't on the right border, where they were asked to come. I understand it is a grim situation and nobody expected this but our officers are on the ground doing their best to let Indian students in and help them in the evacuation" he further added.