Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): 'We won't move an inch until Russia orders ceasefire,' Bhopal's Manan Saraswat told Free Press over phone from the bunker of war-torn Kharkiv where he is living for past six days.
We do not want to meet the same fate our friend Naveen from Karnataka just met with. He had gone out to collect food and there was a shelling that took his life, Saraswat said on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old medico from the capital city is one of the volunteers helping to distribute the stored supplies. He is among the group of 450 students who are hiding in a bunker beneath Medical Hostel number 5 building in Tslenogradskaya in Aleksevka to prevent themselves from constant shelling in Kharkiv, the second largest city of Ukraine.
Russian troops are bombarding Kharkiv constantly. They have dropped bombs even in front of our hostels and colleges. No place is safe to travel, he added.
We have decided to stay put until Putin orders ceasefire. Especially after our fellow Indian lost life here. We haven't slept for days. Many of us are hallucinating. We havenít seen the light of the day. Pangs of hunger are killing us, as we have to ration and eat. We have been facing troubles but at least we are alive, he added.
Saraswat said all the students who are in bunkers have supplies for one more day. He added, We had supplies available only because we rationed and ate. Many of us have not used washrooms for two days. There are girls with us who have been facing troubles due to unavailability of hygienic washrooms. We all need medical aid too. Despite all the difficulties, we cannot and will not leave the bunkers. There is death at every step we take outside.
A day before the war started, Saraswat and other students stocked up as much food, water and other necessary supplies as possible. Mananís father, Dr Manish Shrivastava, has urged government to evacuate his son.
(If you have a story in and around Mumbai, you have our ears, be a citizen journalist and send us your story here. )
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
