New Delhi: A day after the Indian embassy urged its citizens in Ukraine’s Kharkiv to leave the city immediately, around 1,000 students, mainly men, continue to remain stuck on the outskirts of the city, in Pisochyn.
A majority of them are from the Kharkiv National Medical University and some from colleges like V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and Kharkiv International Medical University. All of them are waiting for instructions on where to go next.
Speaking to ThePrint, Swadhin Mohapatra, 30, a doctor in Kharkiv and alum of the Kharkiv National Medical University who is coordinating evacuation efforts of stranded Indian students, said there are approximately 965 Indian students in Pisochyn. And they have been put up at two safe locations — 420 in one spot and 545 in another.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine had Wednesday issued ‘urgent advisories’ directing its citizens in Kharkiv — a city located in eastern Ukraine just north of the troubled Donbass region — to reach three settlements — Pisochyn, Bezlyudivka and Babai — by 9.30 pm IST (6 pm Ukrainian time) that night.
2nd Advisory to Indian Students in Kharkiv
2 March 2022.@MEAIndia @PIB_India @DDNewslive @DDNational pic.twitter.com/yOgQ8m25xh
— India in Ukraine (@IndiainUkraine) March 2, 2022
The advisories were first issued around 5 pm IST (1.30pm Ukrainian time), giving Indians just four hours to leave. They also came a day after an Indian student, Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, died from shelling in Kharkiv’s city centre.
“There aren’t any students in Bezlyudivka and Babai, as far as I know, and none left in Kharkiv city centre,” added Mohapatra.
By foot, Pisochyn is the closest to Kharkiv city centre, located just 11 km away. Babai and Bezlyudivka are 12 km and 16 km away respectively. All these settlements are located within Kharkiv oblast (or administrative division).
ThePrint had earlier reported that around 4,000 Indian students were in underground bomb shelters in Kharkiv’s city centre.
Of around 20,000 Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine, more than 6,000 have been safely repatriated so far, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said Wednesday.
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Chaos at Kharkiv train station
ThePrint also spoke to a few students who were in hiding in Pisochyn. Most of them described chaotic scenes at the Kharkiv train station Wednesday as they attempted to catch trains to Lviv, on the western side of Ukraine.
Some of them said they had walked for around 10 km from their hostels in the city centre — where they had been hiding in underground bomb shelters for a week — to reach the railway station early morning Wednesday.
They also alleged that male students were denied boarding but “many Indian girls” were allowed. They also said that the Ukrainian locals were allowed to board on priority. The students also recalled hearing “loud bombing noises”, forcing some to take refuge under a metro station nearby.
Many who couldn’t board the trains proceeded on foot to Pisochyn, travelling approximately 15 km, while sounds of shelling continued.
Pritansha Chandraker, 18, one of the few girls who couldn’t make it on a train and is currently in Pisochyn, told ThePrint, “We heard a really loud air strike nearby at the train station yesterday (Wednesday). It was so loud, we got so scared and took shelter under a metro station. Then we came back to the train station to try our luck again but no trains were there and that too, it didn’t seem safe anymore. So we walked to Pisochyn, which was exhausting.”
She added that she saw some of her friends getting shoved and pushed by crowds on the train platform.
‘Loud’ air strikes, ‘freezing cold’ weather conditions
Aniketh Sheeparamatti, 21, Naveen Gyanagoudar’s friend and who is currently in Pisochyn, said leaving his hostel to reach the train station and then the walk to Pisochyn was “very risky” with air strikes going on and inclement weather conditions.
“Leaving the bomb shelters in our hostels was risky enough. But walking from the (train) station to Pisochyn was very risky too. First, at the platform, there was so much pushing and shoving and it started to hail as well. It was freezing cold. Also, when we were reaching the train station, we heard bombing that was so loud, it caused glass windows in shops to shake and we felt the vibrations on the ground,” said Sheeparamatti.
Asked how the conditions were like in his current location, he said, “There’s water here but no food as yet. I’m very hungry after walking continuously for five-six hours since yesterday. It’s just been dreadful here — we don’t even know the language.”
ThePrint had also reported that some students took trains from Kharkiv to Lviv then crossed over to Poland. Lviv is a city just 80 km from the Polish border.
Ishita Choudhary, 20, who is currently in Lviv after catching a train Wednesday, said, “We reached Lviv around 9.30 am today (Thursday). Now, we are waiting to get buses to Romania and Hungary, but it doesn’t look like we will catch one soon.”
Asked about her journey on the train, she said, “First, they were not letting us in because the train was overcrowded. Then some Vietnamese people kindly gave us seats, and they went to stand elsewhere. The train journey was very exhausting.”
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