VISAKHAPATNAM: Waiting with their bags packed, Indian students trapped in hostels at Kyiv’s Oleksiivska were told by their hostel warden on Friday that they may be evacuated anytime. However, there was no word about evacuation till late in the evening, said Reddi Nomula Satya Sreeja of Visakhapatnam.
“Bombings were reported at least six times last night and we spent whole night in the bunker,” she added. The hostel provided food for them last night. In the morning, they came back to their rooms as they were asked to pack their belongings. Again they were moved to the bunker. However, their wait continued as there was no word about evacuation. She said they are facing frequent power cuts and around 500 students are crammed in one bunker.
Sreeja said almost all hostels have bunkers and even private and commercial buildings have bunkers. Bunkers provide safety in case of any emergency. She said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called them and assured them that flights will be sent to evacuate them.
She said that since they are staying near the eastern border, they have to move to the western border to cross to Hungary or Romania from where they will be evacuated to India. Another girl Lakshita said they will get relief only after evacuation from war-torn Ukraine.
Sreeja’s father Reddi Arjun said they were eagerly waiting for the return of their daughter along with others. “It is a blessing in disguise that there are a large number of Telugu students during the crisis,” he said.
He also said Collector A Mallikharjun had contacted them and assured them that the government will do its best to evacuate the students from the East European country.