Russia invades Ukraine: Indian medical students shifted to tube stations for safety

Rohit Bhan

Chandigarh, February 24

For Akriti Sharma, a final-year medical student at Kharkiv-based National Medical University, the past 24 hours have been nerve-wracking. Having spent most part of this time in queue for grocery and outside ATMs, she is holed up in an underground metro station in Kharkiv for protection from Russian bombers.

An estimated 15,000-18,000 Indians, a majority of them medical students, are currently in various cities of Ukraine, waiting to be evacuated by the Indian Government.

“Till Wednesday evening, all seemed normal. About 8 pm, we were told that curfew may be imposed. But we did not anticipate that Russia would launch an attack. On Thursday at 5.30 am, I was woken up by a deafening explosion which was followed by a series of explosions at some distance. This is when we realised that Russia had attacked Ukraine,” Akriti, who hails from Amritsar, told The Tribune.

Panic all around

There is panic all around with long queues outside grocery shops and ATMs. It took me more than two hours to withdraw money. —Akriti Sharma, Student from Amritsar

She spent the next few hours trying to stock up essentials. “There was panic all around with long queues outside grocery shops and ATMs. It took me more than two hours to withdraw money,” recounted Akriti. At about noon, Akriti and other medical students were told to shift to an underground metro station turned into a bunker by the local authorities. “A list of metro stations was provided to us and we were told to shift to the nearest ones. We are carrying food and beverages, but don’t know for how long we will be stuck here,” said a worried Akriti.

Back home in Amritsar, her parents are clinging to whatever information that is trickling in. Akriti’s father Narinder Sharma, a retired government servant, is pinning hope on the Indian Government. “I read a tweet that the stranded Indians would be moved to Hungary by road and then flown to India. We hope this is true and they do manage to get the students back,” he said.