CHENNAI: The death of an Indian student in Ukraine has left parents here frantic with worry as many students from Tamil Nadu are still stranded in Ukraine. The Russian forces have intensified the attack to lay siege on Kyiv and Kharkiv. According to officials, more than 80 per cent of the students from the State who went to study in Ukraine are in the two cities.
Official sources said nearly 200 students from these cities have left to reach Slovakia, from where they will board flights to India. “We are hoping the rest of the students stuck in places where the attack has been intensified can also find their way to Slovakia,” said an official.
One of the students, Shanmugam Balamurugan from Sivagangai, a second-year medical student at Kharkiv National Medical University, said that he was standing in line to cross the border to Slovakia. A total of 20 students (16 boys and 8 girls) started their journey towards Slovakia on February 26.
“We stayed in a metro station in Kharkiv for two days. After eight hours of waiting, we boarded a train at 5 pm on February 26. From there, we reached Lviv in the western part of Ukraine. There was no food for several hours as we were supposed to board a train to Uzhhorod from there. Since there was no train on that day, we connected with friends of our seniors in the city and stayed with them for a night,” he said.
The group of 20 students then arranged a bus from Lviv to Uzhhorod, which cost them around Rs 60,000, on Monday and then stayed in a sports hall. “From there, we arranged another bus to the Slovakia border and are currently standing in line,” Shanmugam told TNIE.
The family of a 22-year-old medical student from Thiruvallur sought the help of State and central governments as their daughter Aswini Priya (22), student of VN Karazin Kharkiv National University, was allegedly stuck in the bunkers with other students. The students had been allegedly asked to vacate the campus by the college administration, said sources.
According to B Amul Mary, mother of Aswini, “My daughter called me at 4.30 pm on Tuesday saying all the students in the bunkers were asked to vacate by the college administration.” When contacted Aswini told TNIE, “The network is poor here. There is a commotion among the students who are here at the bunker. However, a few officials contacted me from TN and had arranged for rescue operations.”
GR Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctors’ Association for Social Equality, said the situation has now worsened. Steps should be taken to bring the students back as soon as possible, he added.