Ukraine update: ‘Fighter jets fly low and tanks rumble past close by’

While some students from Karnataka are attempting to cross the border, others seek refuge in bunkers waiting for word on evacuation

In the 24 hours since The Hindu spoke to her, little has changed for Sheetal, a student from Hassan who is holed up in an underground metro station in Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine. Amidst explosions and tremors she tries to go to the web portal created by the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) to collect information of those stranded in Ukraine, but is unable to access it from her phone. 

She’s been stuck in the underground station for three days waiting for a word from the Indian embassy on evacuation plans. “We don’t know if we will be able to come out of this alive. There are no washrooms and we are struggling. We are all scared and don’t know what to do next,” she said.

In desperation, people have also started moving to border countries including Hungary, Romania and Poland. Ayush, a student of Lviv National Medical University, has been documenting his journey to the Polish border on Instagram. In one of his updates he said that Poland had closed its borders and was allowing only women and children to enter. He and others are taking shelter in a school. Along the 10-km distance to the border, he posted clips of Ukranian citizens providing tea and cookies to people walking in the cold towards Poland. 

Sinya Varoke Jose, a 22-year-old fourth year medical student from Kodagu is stranded in the capital city of Kyiv, where Russia has reportedly concentrated its force. As tanks rumbled into the city, Sinya sought shelter in a bunker at a school building with another student from Karnataka. 

“Indian students, including my niece Sinya, said the Indian embassy is in constant touch with them,” said Mr. Jose, Sinya’s uncle in Ponnampet, Kodagu. He added that the option of trying to reach the border is difficult. “Embassy officials seem to have told them that they need about eight buses to shift all of them to the border. But there is a shortage of gas as only 15 litres per vehicle is currently being provided,” Mr. Jose said.

Mr. Jose, who spoke to Sinya on Saturday morning, said her mother lives in a village near Ponnampet and she hasn’t been told about the crisis. “My niece told me that locals are helping them but the situation is very tense and unsafe,” he said.

Karthik, who also hails from Kodagu is glued to the TV waiting for updates as his brother Likith, is stranded in Kharkiv. He, too, said his brother has so far not received any communication about their evacuation. “Along with my brother, eight other Karnataka students are stranded in Kharkiv. They moved to a bunker from the basement of their apartment on Saturday morning after hearing explosions,” said Karthik, an MBA student.

It was a case of being unlucky twice for S. Aisiri from Mysuru, a fourth-year medical student from Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv who is currently in a secure location three friends, all from Karnataka. Her father K. Shivakumar told The Hindu that Aisiri had booked her tickets for a flight back home in the month of January. But she tested positive for COVID-19 72 hours before her flight. “She had to postpone her trip,” said Mr. Shivakumar.

Aisiri got a ticket for February 24, but that morning, Russia launched its attack and the airspace was closed. “The fighter jets fly low and the tanks rumble past close by while explosions reverberate all around’’, said Mr. Shivakumar describing his daughter’s account of the harrowing experience.