Ukraine-Russia war: 'Death of student in Kharkiv terrified us more,' say students from city of Sumy

The MEA has urged Indian students in Kharkiv to leave the city immediately to safe zones or further westwards using any means available, including on foot, & keeping safety in mind, as cities on the eastern side of Ukraine witness heavy shelling and clashes.

While nationals in Kharkiv have been advised to proceed to Pesochin, Babaye, and Bezlyudovka by 6 pm local time (9.30 pm IST), students who are currently in the city of Sumy expect their pleas to be heard soon.

"After hearing about the death of an Indian student in Kharkiv, we have become more terrified. We don't know how many more students will be putting their lives in danger by staying here," said Soumya Saji, a student of Sumi University from the state of Kerala, who told the Free Press Journal that though advisories by the Indian Embassy recommended students and other nationals to move towards Western Ukraine, it's impossible for them as railway lines have been destroyed while roads have some landmines along the way. "Either the Embassy has to provide a bus for us that takes students to Kyiv, from where we can travel by trains, or evacuate us through Russia as we border them," added Soumya who said that the university has provided them with certain recommendations on how to prepare themselves for evacuation as the Ministry of External Affairs reached out to the university regarding the same.

"We switch off the lights at night due to fear of airstrikes. There are civilians with arms on the streets. We don't even know what's going on outside as the advice to us is not to leave our hostel rooms in any case. Food has been stocked up by us, we even heat the tap water as it's not safe to drink otherwise," said Shabna Ashique, another student from Sumy University, who stated there are around 480 Indian students in Sumy and they have to move to bunkers now and then, due to air sirens.

"Even the university officials didn't expect things to get this bad. Many of us are now mentally and physically weak, only a few of us are willing to get our stories out to the media so that our concerns are heard," Shabna continued and added that they are out of cash while the ATMs are closed. "If in the next 2-3 days our evacuation arrangements are not made, it will be impossible for us to pay for any form of transport as we don't have money," Shabna told FPJ.

At a media briefing, Russian Ambassador-designate Denis Alipov said Russia is in touch with India on the issue of the safety of Indians and a safe passage will be provided for them through the Russia-Ukrainian border. He further said that the country will investigate the death of a 21-year-old Indian medical student in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.