VIJAYAWADA: Joy was writ large on their faces as Andhra Pradesh students evacuated from the war-torn Ukraine emerged out of different airport terminals in the State on Sunday. The students were overwhelmed with joy on seeing their near and dear ones at the airports.
A total of 17 medical students from Andhra Pradesh have landed in the country with the Indian government airlifting them from the nations bordering Ukraine. Of them, 14 students have reached their hometowns safely putting an end to the anxiety of their parents. The remaining are on their way back home.
A majority of the students who returned, are studying in medical universities in the western part of Ukraine bordering countries like Poland and Romania. The State government has set up help desks at Mumbai and Delhi airports to ensure that all the needs of students evacuated from Ukraine are taken care of till they reach their hometowns safely.
'State govt gave full support for repatriation'
"We stayed in bunkers and walked almost 6 km to reach the Romanian border. From there, I reached the airport with the help of the Indian embassy in Kyiv. The State government has extended its full support for our safe repatriation to Delhi and from there to Hyderabad, Vijayawada and finally to our hometowns," D Sai Praveen, a student of Bukovinian State Medical University (BSMU) in Chernivtsi, told The New Indian Express.
The evacuated students landed in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Rajamahendravaram airports in the State and the respective district administrations safely shifted them to their hometowns. The Andhra Pradesh government has been in touch with the Indian embassy as well as the stranded students ever since the war broke out and it has started making every effort to bring them back safely.
Sharing their ordeal, Pavani, a fifth year MBBS student of BSMU, who reached Visakhapatnam, said though the Russian troops did not attack the place where they are staying, the closure of Kyiv airport had triggered panic among them. But they were safely evacuated from Ukraine, she added.