TS students caught in a cleft stick, yearn to return home

Hyderabad: As the war between Russia and Ukraine is escalating with every passing day, the students from Telangana who are still stranded in Ukraine are counting days to get evacuated as they are facing an acute shortage of food and other amenities. Further, there is no proper mode of transportation for them to reach their nearest railway station. Through social media platforms, they have been appealing to the Indian government to airlift them as early as it can.

The stranded students pointed out that as Indian embassy had issued an advisory asking all Indian nationals to leave Kyiv and Kharkiv urgently preferably by available trains or any means of transport. However, to reach the stations, there is no proper transport facility available. Apart from that, about 18 students from Telangana who have reached the Romania border are eagerly waiting to be airlifted.

Sharing the harrowing experience, Arvind, a fifth-year MBBS student of Kharkiv National Medical University and a resident of Secunderabad said, "I never thought I would face such a pathetic situation. For the past five days, along with 2,000 students from India, we are surviving in the basement of a metro station. We are running short of food and drinking water. Whenever we are trying to contact the embassy, they are only asking us to wait. Though embassy had asked us to reach the railway stations, we have no proper mode of transport."

"We are told to leave Kharkiv and Kyiv immediately by available trains or means of transport by Indian embassy, but how should we go as the situation outside is very terrible. A few of our friends tried to reach the railway station, but were harassed by the Ukraine security personal. We are just surviving anyhow in the dark bunker, with no washrooms available. We are running out of food and drinking water. Our health is at risk. Don't know for how many days we have to spend here. We are hoping that the Indian embassy will soon rescue us," said Sharvani, a fifth-year MBBS student and a resident of Meerpet.

"Almost all the students stranded at Kyiv are sleeping in -2 degrees Celsius in unheated basements and metro stations. The situation is getting worse with every hour as supplies are running out. We are literally starving. I have been continuously texting the embassy, but there is no word from the authorities," said Prithvi, a second-year MBBS student and a resident of Secunderabad.