Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): “We have no electricity, no water and no food here in the bunkers. We are stuck here for ten days with shelling outside and missiles hitting the city. We have no aid from the embassy and no hope to stick to anymore. We are petrified,” says Narendra Makwana, a final year student of MBBS at Sumy State Medical University, who has been stranded in the bunker of his hostel since the Russia-Ukraine war began.
Narendra hails from Madhya Pradesh’s Nasurullahganj and has lost all hopes from the embassy or the government.
Five students from Madhya Pradesh along with over 800 Indians are still stuck in the bunkers, as per the information available at the moment. They have not been rescued and cannot step out due to constant bombing and shelling. They said they have supplies for just one more day and may leave on their own if they fail to get assistance from the government or the embassy.
“We had planned to leave on Saturday but were stopped by our contractors who have been a great help during these distressing time,” adds Narendra.
“Nobody takes our calls. We tried the Indian embassy in Kyiv and all the helpline numbers that were issued but to no avail. When they do, they just say wait one more day. We are losing will with every passing day. We might just leave on our own on foot since we know that nobody is going to come inside and rescue us,” says Chhattarpur’s Saransh Jain, who is also inside the bunker.
“They ordered ceasefire in the cities that are at least 800 km away from us. We are the most hit. A missile hit our neighboring building just an hour ago. We are scared,” says Indore’s Jayesh Patel
Deepika Gupta, who is in Sumy and also hails from Indore, says, “The sounds of shelling scare us. We have not slept for days. When we do, we hear them in our dreams. Anyone who is not in war zone would never understand this trauma that we have to go through every day from the time we wake up.”
Chhattarpur’s Anupriya Khare weeps as she narrates her ordeal. She says, “We had no electricity for days. We have nowhere to go out of his hole in the ground. We are wearing the same clothes for ten days. We don’t have water to drink, let alone for using it in the washrooms. We were never prepared for anything this scary. We knew wars were a history. Alas, we were wrong.”
