Ukrainian family gave me shelter, food: Student

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, March 10

Rahul, a third-year MBBS student of Kharkiv National Medical University in Ukraine, who reached Shimla today, says “A known Ukrainian family protected me and provided shelter and food. They took me to a safe place on the outskirts of the town but fear and anxiety gripped me as the situation worsened.”

Stayed at Bucharest for 2 days before being evacuated

As the Operation Ganga gained momentum, the Indian authorities contacted the students. We were transported to Romania in buses. After staying at Bucharest for two days, we were flown to India. — Rahul, third-year MBBS student

Narrating his “nightmarish experience” during the past 15 days, he says “I heard the deafening noise of the first blast around 5 am on February 24 and when I looked out of the window, I saw people running here and there with their children.”

“I was keen to return to India as the situation worsened due to the heavy shelling all around. The Ukrainian family allowed me to go only after I told them that the Indian Government was making arrangements for safe return of the students,” Rahul states.

After the death of an Indian student on March 1, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine asked all students stranded in Kharkiv to leave “immediately”, and assemble at three designated places. So, Rahul left for Pesochin, a settlement on the outskirts of Kharkiv in a taxi, but by that time, Ukrainians were turning hostile towards Indians and the risk had escalated.

He says “When I reached Pesochine, about 400- 500 students had taken shelter there in a sanatorium. But we were running out of food and clothes. The extremely cold weather added to our woes”.