GUNTUR: Nakka Sirisha was in the group of close to 70 Indian students which left the bunkers of a Sumy university in distress on February 24 after not getting any help from the Indian Embassy in Ukraine.
“We woke up to the sound of an explosion and were rushed to a bunker. We were told that we were safe and that there was no need to leave the country. But the situation had already worsened as even the airspace was shut down,” Sirisha, a native of Guntur, who reached home Friday, said.
Alleging that the Embassy didn’t provide them with the required support, she said: “We called them a thousand times, tried all helplines numbers given by the Embassy, but not a single call was received. Left with no option, we arranged two buses and started for the Ukrainian-Romanian border on our own.”
For four days it took the Indian students to reach the border, the group had to survive on minimum food and water, and were subjected to hostility by Ukrainians.
“The local vendors refused to sell us food and other essentials as we were Indians. They asked us to leave their shops. It was so humiliating for us. Our buses were stopped frequently by the security forces, so our journey was delayed.”
Despite having money, the students couldn’t buy food, and had to walk 20 km to reach the border amid the bone-chilling cold.
“Many even fainted as they were starving. Due to these issues, it took us four days to travel 800 km.”
Their troubles didn’t end even after the group reached the border on March 1.
“Some of us took beatings when we asked for basic facilities. We spent every minute in fear and were stranded at the border for three days,” she narrated her ordeal.
Sirisha and other students were evacuated from the border and brought to Delhi on March 3. She reached home the next day.
“Still, hundreds of students are stuck in Sumy. They should be evacuated at the earliest,” she pleaded to the authorities.