MELBOURNE, 3 March 2022: An estimated 600 Indian medical students are stuck in Eastern Ukraine’s Sumy city, as a consequence of the Russian invasion of the country. The students are in the Sumy State University, located close to the Russian border. A report in the NDTV has given the figure of students as 500.
Indian student Viraj Walde (from Nagpur) told PTI, ” “More than 600 Indian students are stuck here in Sumy university. The embassy has neither evacuated us nor given any assurance to that effect. Since the last five days, there has been continuous firing, shelling, and bombing in the city,” he said. Their final exams were about to start on March 15, he said. “Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, temporary advisories were given to the students and the university informed us that those having exams can wait. Hence, we waited for the exams to start.
But now, the students are terrified and their mental state is deteriorating. Food and drinking water supplies are depleting. Even the banks and ATMs are running out of cash,” he said.
“The border in Ukraine’s western part is located almost 1,500km away from Sumy, whereas the Russian border is just 50km away. The railway station in Sumy has also been closed due to bombing and traveling via road is like committing suicide since Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting against each other at such places,” he added.
The military administration has told the students not to venture out because there is artillery shelling in the city, he said. “On behalf of all the students stuck in Sumy, I request the Indian government to evacuate us before anything unfortunate happens to us,” he said. (Reported by The Hindu)
Reports indicate most rescue flights arranged by the Indian government will take off from nations sharing border with Ukraine in the west. Four central Ministers are coordinating the rescue from neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in New Delhi has said in a Tweet, ” Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens. And send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do.
According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod.”
