BHUBANESWAR: Stuck in the war zones of Ukraine and spending the hours in increasing fear and anxiety, more than 1,500 students from Odisha are frantically waiting to be evacuated to the safety of their homeland.
As the situation escalated and turned grim, a majority of students from the State, who are placed in the education hubs of Kharkiv and Kyiv, were running out of food and water. With disruption in banking, internet and communication systems, they were struggling to find food, draw cash and keep in touch with their parents. However, on Thursday evening, many were shifted to bomb shelters and safe zones following the third advisory by the Indian Embassy.
Most of the students are pursuing MBBS course in National Medical University at Kharkiv and Kyiv Medical University and stay in apartments. Liza Kap of Bhubaneswar, Pankaj Kumar Mohanta of Mayurbhanj and Prasanjeet Pattnaik of Sambalpur, all fifth year students of Kharkiv National Medical University, said they heard bomb warnings and sirens thrice in the day and Indian Embassy advised them to shift to the nearest bomb shelter.
“We have shifted to the Geroiv Truda metro at Heroiv Prasti but it is chock-a-block with people. We brought whatever food we had in our apartment but drinking water is scarce,” said Liza. The students woke up at 4.30 am on the day to distant yet loud explosions. Panicking, Liza and her friends packed their bags and shifted to the ground floor for safety. The blasts continued at intervals for some time, and later in the day, the university management and Indian Embassy issued advisories asking students to stock essentials and stay put in their apartments.
“We spent almost four hours this morning trying to enter a supermarket and buy groceries. At the billing counter, it was another two hours of wait. There is a mad rush everywhere and even the bank and water ATMs are extremely crowded,” said Pankaj. Since WiFi has been snapped at several locations, most of them are using mobile data for limited hours to contact their families in Odisha and receive advisories.
Stranded Odisha students plead for evacuation
Most of the Odisha students were to come back to India in the first week of March. However, with airspaces closed in Ukraine in wake of the Russian invasion, all the flights were cancelled. “Three days back, the Indian government asked all Indians to fly out of Ukraine. But, the flight tickets were selling at astronomical rates, almost double the normal prices of Rs 27,000 to Rs 30,000.
Even though we tried to book tickets, they were available only from March 3,” said Akankshya Satapathy, another Odia student who stays alone in Studentska near Kharkiv Metro. The students had gone to Ukraine through an agency Global Focus Education Pvt Ltd in Bhubaneswar. Its founders Abdul Zaheer and Swadhin Mohapatra said there are around 1,600 students from Odisha studying medical, nursing and engineering.
“In the last six years, 1,300 students have gone to Ukraine through our agency to study medicine. Until yesterday, 50 had returned. The situation turned worse today but we are in constant touch with the Indian Embassy to ensure the safety of our students,” said Swadhin who is in Ukraine at present. Back home, parents of these students are worried about their safety.
They have urged both the State and the Central governments to ensure their evacuation at the earliest. Labour Commissioner N Thirumala Nayak said that the State government is keeping track of the situation. The State government is constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs on the issue of evacuating the students and citizens, she stated.