KOCHI: Indian students studying at universities in the Ukrainian city of Lviv started moving into Poland following the directions of the Indian Embassy. Kochi native Muhammad Jiyad is among a group of 14 students who started travelling to the Poland border on Friday morning. Jiyad’s father, P M Najeeb, said he spoke with his son around noon Indian time on Friday.
Najeeb and wife Hassena are relieved to know that Jiyad is travelling to Poland. “The embassy has created a WhatsApp group and giving directions based on the developments in various parts of Ukraine. They were given directions to move to Poland border soon. It is a few hours’ journey from Lviv to Poland border. Jiyad said there is no conflict in Lviv till now.
Western Ukraine closer to Poland is claimed to be safe now. We hope the Indian Embassy will make further arrangements after students reach Poland,” he said. Jiyad was studying veterinary science graduation course at the University of Lviv.
He had booked a flight ticket to return to Kerala in March. “The high ticket price forced several students to stay back days till the war broke out. Normally, the ticket fare is around Rs 20,000. The days before the war, the ticket fare skyrocketed to Rs 60,000-Rs 80,000.
Similarly, several Ukrainian universities were to start offline classes as Covid cases came down forcing students to stay back,” He said. Najeeb’s relative who is studying at a college in Kyiv could not be reached. “He contacted his parents on Thursday. However, he could not be reached since then. His parents are worried. “The shops in Kyiv are closing down and Indian students are surviving on bread and biscuits,” Najeeb said.