BAGALKOT/VIJAYAPURA/DAVANAGERE: Hundreds of students from Karnataka stranded in Kharkiv and Kyiv in Ukraine are struggling to get proper food and water from the local authorities. The students are scared to step out and buy food as the bombing by Russia has intensified.
Kiran LS, a medical student stranded in Ukraine, said, “We have barely stepped out of the shelter houses and we are forced to survive on an empty stomach.” Navayshree, a student at Kharkiv Medical University, said, “First two days, we were allowed to go to apartments and hostels for at least one hour a day.
We used to cook sufficient food and return to the bunkers with lunch boxes and water. Now, because of nonstop bombardment, we have been restrained from stepping out of bunkers and tunnels. We are surviving on limited food and water. The local authorities are hardly supplying basic needs.”
The parents of these students in Karnataka are anxious. Dr. Rajashekar Hipparagi, the father of Rohit Hipparagi -- who has been stranded in Ukraine, said, “We are making efforts to evacuate my son, but we have not been successful. I am scared as the situation is grim in many cities of Ukraine. Even the government is helpless as they have not started the evacuation process in eastern cities.
The government has to expedite the evacuation process in areas severely affected by the conflict.” The Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority stated that 397 students from the state were stranded in Ukraine. Among them, 129 are from Bengaluru Urban, 28 from Mysuru, 23 from Bagalkot and 18 from Vijayapura. Thirty students have returned from Ukraine, but none of them are from Bagalkot and Vijayapura.
Priya lands back in India
Forced to spend several sleepless nights in fear amidst Russia’s onslaught on Ukraine, Priya -- a second-year MBBS student from the Bukovinian State Medical University at Chernistvi -- finally touched down in India on the second flight of Air India which landed at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in the early hours of Sunday.
Priya, from Kunduru village of Honnali taluk, said, “It took two hours to reach the Romanian border due to heavy traffic. The immigration process took another 4-5 hours. Once we crossed the border, the bus straightaway made it to the international airport in Bucharest. Officials from the Indian Embassy booked us on the Air India flight, which reached Delhi early on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, the first batch of 12 Students who landed in Bengaluru were received by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka and others.