Ukraine: Indian students in Kharkiv, Kyiv race against time

Amritsar, March 2

Students stuck in Kharkiv and Kyiv are risking their lives by trying to move out of the cities on their own.

As Russian forces have increased shelling, several students are stuck at a railway station in Kharkiv.

We are desperately trying to leave Ukraine on our own, risking our lives. Meenu Kaur, Mansa native

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Walked 9 km from hostel

I, along with other students, reached the Kharkiv railway station by walking 9 km from our hostel. More than 700 Indian students are stranded at the railway station. We have been stopped from boarding trains. Piyush Goyal, student stuck at Kharkiv

I took the decision well in advance to head back before the Russian forces invaded the eastern part of Ukraine. My roommates chose to stay back, hoping that the situation would improve. Vishwas Thakur, Amritsar native

Those who made it back

• Amritsar-based Vishwas Thakur reached New Delhi on February 22 on his own
• He says the Indian Embassy, except for issuing ‘advisories’ could not help students who are stuck in Kharkiv

Decision taken well in time

• Navraj Singh Sandhu, a student at Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, also left Ukraine in time; he was back home in Amritsar on Wednesday
• “Gauging the situation, I decided to leave on February 24. It took me three days to reach Poland from where I took a flight to India,” he says