Over 600 Indian students are currently stranded in a university in Sumy, a city in north-eastern Ukraine, hoping to be evacuated soon because “constant firing and bombing” by Russian forces have terrified them, according to one of the students.
So far, no Indian students at Sumy State University, which is close to the Russian border, have been evacuated, according to Viraj Walde, who is from Nagpur in Maharashtra and is currently enrolled in the university’s fourth-year medical program.
“At Sumy University, more than 600 Indian students are stranded. We haven’t been evacuated, and the embassy hasn’t given us any assurances that we will. The city has been under constant fire, shelling, and bombing for the past five days “he stated He stated that their final exams would begin on March 15. “Students were given interim advisories prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the institution notified us that those who had exams might wait. As a result, we awaited the start of the exams “Mr. Walde said.
Indian students are facing a shortage of Food, Water
“The students, on the other hand, are now afraid and their mental health is suffering. The availability of food and drinking water is dwindling. Banks and ATMs are also running out of cash “he stated
The embassy has sent recommendations to students, advising them to travel exclusively over Ukraine’s western border to reach Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Moldova. However, because Sumy is in the north-eastern region of Ukraine, they will be unable to travel all the way to the western part under the current scenario, he stated.
“Sumy is about 1,500 kilometers from the western Ukrainian border, whereas the Russian border is only 50 kilometers distant. Because Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting against each other in such regions, the railway station in Sumy has also been closed due to bombing, and driving by road is like committing suicide “Added he.
According to him, the military administration has advised the students not to come out because the city is being shelled by artillery. “On behalf of all the students stranded in Sumy, I implore the Indian government to rescue us before something tragic occurs,” he stated.
A medical student from Karnataka’s Haveri district was killed in heavy shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, becoming the first Indian victim in the Ukraine conflict.