After the invasion of Russia, the efforts to evacuate the Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine are on. The situation has become so bad that the students have to fight even for survival till they are safely evacuated. The gravity of the situation can be understood from the fact that a student had to sell his iPad in order to get a seat on the train to leave Ukraine.
The students stranded there say that another challenge they are facing is that preference is being given to the Ukrainians first to flee the war zone on trains. An Indian student from Kerala says that it is not safe even inside metro stations.
He says that on Tuesday, there was a bombing in front of the metro in which a woman lost her leg and suffered head injuries. There was a lot of blood there. Help was sought from Indian medical students. Later they reached Vokzal railway station in Kharkiv after walking for an hour.
The student while speaking with a media said that a senior of his had to sell his iPad to pay 6000 UAH (about Rs 15,000) for a seat in the train. Students are waiting at Kharkiv railway station to reach Ukraine's western border for a safe exit.
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However, the situation is so critical that merely reaching the station is not a guarantee of safety. When 22-year-old Jol Jopson, a resident of Kerala, reached the station in the morning, the seniors who had left their bunkers to reach here two days ago were also waiting. Jopson said the exit process for Indian students is slow, as Ukrainian citizens are being given priority.
Jayalakshmi, a medical student in Kharkiv, said there was constant firing near her hostel and she and other Indian students reached the station after staying in the bunker for about a week. However, when they reached the station, it was very crowded and they could not catch the train.
Students stranded in the war-torn area are leaving for the station only after getting the green signal from the advisors and Team SOS India. Apart from this, the students have got information that the Indian Embassy office has been set up in Liv near the border of Poland to evacuate them.
