No relief, Hoshiarpur lad starts 750-km trek to Poland border amid Ukraine war

Tribune News Service

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, February 26

It has been a nightmarish experience for Gurbhej Singh of Bhunder Di village, Hoshiarpur, who has been trying to make it to Poland border from Odessa city of Ukraine since last night.

Accompanied by his three friends, he has no conveyance and is going on foot to the border located 750 km away. He has been able to cover only 34 km in 12 hours.

“The trains and taxis have stopped plying here. A majority of vehicles plying on the road are oil tankers. We sought lift from all passing vehicles, but only the driver of an Army vehicle helped us. He dropped us after 16 km as he was going in a different direction. Ever since, we had no option but to keep on walking, carrying our luggage along and just munching biscuits that we had. In between, we could just find place in a church to take some rest and freshen up,” said Gurbhej, adding, “We are still 716 km away from the border. Under these circumstances, we really did not know when and how this journey will end.”

Narrating his story, Gurbhej said, “I came to Poland seven months ago on a study visa. I also started working at a store. After the owner went on a holiday and shut the store for 15 days, I came to meet my friends in Odessa. Now I realise it was my life’s biggest mistake. Half of the city has already been bombarded. Yesterday, all windowpanes of my friends’ apartment were broken due to the impact from an attack on a nearby building. We were in the basement and the Army did not let us move for several hours. Finally, my friends and I sneaked out sensing that we were in the danger zone. Since I have the Poland visa, I have no option but to go its border only.”

Unlike Gurbhej, Nitin Arora, who hails from Sangat Singh Nagar in Jalandhar, has been luckier. Having waited for a whole day, he finally managed to get a train to Lviv last night and reached the base camp this morning.

It has been a difficult time for the family of Hemant, who had started on his car from Kyiv to Slovakian borders as they have lost contact with him. His brother Darpan, who resides at Islamganj here, said, “We talked to him last night. He had told us that he had reached near Slovakia and the forces were escorting them across the borders. Ever since, his phone and that of his three friends has been switched off and we are tense. We have been trying to contact MEA officials to help us find their whereabouts.”

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