Indian student crosses Ukraine border, waits for flight home

Shaken and anxious, Rahul Gupta recalls his experience over a WhatsApp call from Bucharest

Rahul Gupta, an MBBS student of the Vinnitsa National Medical University in Ukraine | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Rahul Gupta will never forget the last day of February in 2022 because it was when he stood for 18 hours in sub-zero temperature, braving the snow with 26 of his friends, none of them with much to eat or drink. The 20-year-old was among the 1,600 students who arrived by buses and stood in long queues, separately for men and women, waiting to be allowed to cross over the Romania border by the Ukraine army. “We had the options of going to Hungary, Poland or Romania. We heard the Ukraine army is harassing students in Poland because they [the Ukraine army] are unable to fight the Russian army. So we came to Bucharest,” Mr. Gupta said.

His voice sounded shaky despite the poor connection. He spoke from a shelter home in the Romanian capital, where hundreds of Indian students wait eagerly to go home. “I just experienced the worst night of my life. We had to stand for hours. We were allowed to cross the border only in batches of 30 students released every half-an-hour. They gave us pork and beef sandwiches but most of us only ate the bread.. The water we were carrying got over soon and there was no place to refill. We were all supporting each other and sat on the luggage by turns. There were girls who fainted because they were on their period and were in a lot of pain but had to stand endlessly in that weather. It was hell for all of us. We got separated from our friends.. The ordeal is still not over because I don’t know when I will be able to go back home. There has been no formal communication about the flight scheduled to leave in a few hours, so we don’t know who can make it [on this flight],” he said on a Whatsapp call.

Tales of Indian students stranded in Ukraine | In Photos

The first batch of Indian students left Chernivtsi in a bus for the Ukraine-Romania border. The Embassy of India in Kyiv announced that the evacuation was being organised with the joint effort of the Indian embassies in Romania, Hungary and Poland

The First batch of Indian students leave Chernivtsi for Ukraine-Romania border. The Indian Embassy is co-ordinating to bring back Indians by road

On February 26 afternoon more than 470 students will exit the Ukraine and enter Romania through the Porubne-Siret Border. “We are moving Indians located at the border to neighbouring countries for onward evacuation. Efforts are underway to relocate Indians coming from the hinterland,” said Indian Embassy in Ukraine

Medical students from Ivano Frankvisk National Medical University in Ukraine, waiting to be evacuated by the Indian Embassy

Alone in his apartment and every bit scared, former Indian national rapid chess champion Anwesh Upadhyaya is one among the several of his compatriots stuck in Ukraine amid a Russian invasion and is desperately hoping to be evacuated from the country which has been his home since 2012. The 30-year old, who is doing an apprenticeship in gastroenterology at a Kyiv hospital, had planned to return to India in March. But with Russia launching military operations on Thursday, flights have been suspended and he is unsure of what is in store. “Did not expect this intensification. It is a full-scale military invasion. Never imagined this,” the 2017 national rapid chess champion told PTI from Kyiv.

Nikitha, a student hailing from Chittoor district. A video message of the third-year medicine student of Bogomolets National Medical College in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, spread like wildfire in Chittoor. In the message, Nikitha, who hails from B. Kothakota village of Madanapalle division, said the situation in Ukraine was “very critical, with sounds of missiles and bombings.” She said the students were not able to withdraw cash from the ATMs despite waiting for hours. Shortage of groceries and non-availability of flights added to their woes. She sought immediate intervention of the Indian and Ukrainian governments to evacuate the students to safer places

Shyam Kumar (right) was asleep in his rented apartment in Odessa, Ukraine, when a loud explosion rang through his ears around 5 a.m. “I first thought it may be a road accident, but soon realised that war is now a reality,” he told The Hindu on February 14, as Russia began military operations in Ukraine. A fifth-year medical student of the Odessa National Medical University and a resident of Kakkanad, Kerala, Mr. Shyam Kumar immediately opened news channels and saw images of explosions and aerial attacks in major Ukrainian cities. “We later learnt that the railway station and other vital installations in Odessa were hit,” he said.

K.K. Manjunath from Kushalnagar, whose son Chandan M. Gowda (in picture) is in his third year of medicine at Kharkiv National Medical University in Ukraine, said, “My son and a few others from Karnataka have been holed up in an apartment since February 24. They are also alerted by the local authorities to move to either bunkers, the metro station or to the basement in case of any impending danger,” said Mr. Manjunath

In western Ukraine, on Wednesday, Ayush Kumar was trying to book a flight back to India for March. On February 24 morning, he was stocking up groceries and essentials instead. A resident of Uttar Pradesh, the second-year medical student at the Danylo Halytsky lviv National Medical University, Lviv, said over phone, “I was trying to leave for India and I was looking for a flight. Today, the airspace is closed. The situation is not as dangerous as in eastern Ukraine. But we are on alert. We were told to keep a stock of groceries and water and prepare a small backpack with documents”

Alagulakshmi Sivakumar from Telugu Street in Coimbatore, a third-year medical student of Bogomolets National Medical University in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, said in a voice note that she, along with 11 friends sought shelter in the university hostel as staying in their apartment was not safe. “We are hearing blasts. There was an intelligence about possible missile attack around 3 a.m. [on February 25] and we could not sleep. We all stayed up till 6 a.m. We heard blasts 10 minutes before,” Ms. Sivakumar said in the voice note sent at 7 a.m.

On February 24 morning, sirens were sounded across Ukraine while explosions were reported in cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lutsk among many others. For Priyanka Gurumallesh (fourth from left) of Mysuru, a second year MBBS student of Bukovinian State Medical University, in Chernivtsi, western Ukraine, the trip back home could not have been more timely. She reached Mysuru at 3 am. on Wednesday and within 24 hours the main airport at Kyiv from where international flights fly out of Ukraine, was shut down. “’When we left Ukraine the situation did not seem as alarming but television news reports this morning came as a shock’’, said Priyanka who is one of the thousands of Indians who study in BSMU.

Many Indian students stranded in Ukraine have taken refuge in the basement to escape Russia’s bombing raids. This is a college hostel at Kyiv in Ukraine

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Mr. Gupta, originally from Hyderabad, went to Ukraine in 2019 as an MBBS student of the Vinnitsa National Medical University. He has three more years left to complete his course. When the war broke out, all the students in his university started leaving. Mr. Gupta, along with his friends, boarded a bus at 7 p.m. and reached the Romania border at midnight. In a worried voice, he explained that the Ukraine army shot two rounds into the air in an area with trucks and vehicles, which also led to chaos. “No one is to be blamed. The situation is really bad,” he said. The shelter home in which he is put up has provided him and others like him with a mattress, food, tea and coffee, fruits, and other necessities. It’s about 25 km away from the airport. Mr. Gupta said some of his friends were in another shelter home 20 minutes away from the border. He desperately hopes he will make home it on the next flight.