Ukraine returnees narrate destruction caused by war

Tribune News Service

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, March 6

Rekha Mahajan heaved a sigh of relief as she hugged her daughter Kayinaat, who returned from warn-torn Ukraine. Pursuing second year MBBS course in Kharkiv, which is Ukraine’s second largest city, Kayinaat along with hundreds of other students was staying in the basement of the hostel.

Ambuj Soni, who is in the fifth year of MBBS in Kharkiv, was relieved to return to his native place. He along with hundreds of students had taken refuge in the basement of the Metro station. He recalled that they did not have any blanket when they were staying in the sub-zero temperature of the basement on the first night.

Even they had nothing to eat. So they returned to their flat to get some blanket and took along cooked rice which they found there. Looking at the widespread destruction in Kharkiv, he along with 12 others decided to leave. They paid Rs1,500 for a four-seat taxi, which normally charges Rs300, for the railway station.

There they boarded a train, travelling in which was free, which took 22 hours to reach Lviv. From there, they paid exorbitant charges of Rs3,500 per person to reach Chop, the last railway station of Ukraine, close to Hungarian border.

After completing emigration paper work, they entered Hungarian town of Zahonomy. There Indian volunteers handed them over free of cost tickets to fly back to India.

Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Amritsar’s Ajnala, Ekmadeep Kaur of Malout, and Anshika Sharma and Smile, both residents of Pathankot, also returned today. They narrated the destruction caused by war in the peaceful suburbs where they were living and studying. They thanked the government for providing logistic help which facilitated their safe return to the country.

Meanwhile, MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, who is staying put in Poland, reached at its border sharing with Ukraine, where camps had been set up for people coming from Ukraine. People going from Ukraine to Poland are being provided relief at the border. They are being provided langar and other equipment in different camps. From there, they are being flown to India via Polish airport.

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