NEW DELHI: As many as 682 students stuck at Sumy State University have finally left the war-stricken city and moved towards Poltava from where they will board trains for western Ukraine to be evacuated to India. The students expressed happiness and thanked the government of India and the Indian Embassy for evacuating the students after the delay of three days.
According to Pinaki Ranjan, a fifth year student from Assam's Nagaon, buses were arranged for the students to move to Poltava from where they will be evacuated to Romania and later to India. "The students were also joined by officials from the Indian Embassy and their university officials as well. We want to thank our government, diplomats, the Red Cross Society for this safe evacuation operation," said Pinaki.
On Monday, the mood became sombre as students were asked to deboard the buses at the last minute after the Indian Embassy reportedly informed the college that it would not be safe for them to embark on their journey to the Romania border.
According to Pinaki, only three buses had arrived for more than 600 students. But he added more buses were brought on Tuesday. Stuck in Sumy since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the group of students had become restless as several requests to evacuate did not work out.
On Saturday, the students had released a video stating that they will leave on their own and walk towards the Russian border. However, after an assurance from the government and a call from the PMO, the students backed out.
According to Arindrom Phukon, a fourth year MBBS student, the situation at Sumy had become terrible with shortage of food and water along with regular electricity cuts. "We were hearing sounds of bomb explosions every hour. It had become a challenging task to enter bunkers. We are very happy that we are going back to safer zones and later to our country."
