Kolkata: Families of Indian medical students in Ukraine are spending sleepless nights as they await their children’s evacuation. It could be a long-drawn process, but the West Bengal government on Friday asked district magistrates of all districts to prepare a list of people to be evacuated and the state administration was in touch with the Centre.
One of the lucky returnees is first year medical student from Siliguri, Bitanu Bose, who reached home before Russia began the invasion. Many of his friends are stuck in Kyiv, even as the Indian embassy was trying to facilitate evacuations through Poland, Romania and Hungary.
“I was a student of Chernivtsi Medical University in the western part of Ukraine. There was talk of a possible war at the university and I decided to return. Mine was the last flight. Even students scheduled to board flights an hour later, could not as the war had begun,” Bose told ET. He had gone to Ukraine in December. “I had to wait for three nights after I reached Kyiv for the embassy to arrange my flight. There were several hundred Indian students in the chartered flight. Military preparations had started by then. There was an army base opposite my apartment,” he said.
The Indian embassy mentioned Uzhhorod, close to Hungary’s Chop-Zahony, and Chernivtsi Porubne-Siret, near Romanian border, as places Indian nationals in Ukraine should reach for evacuation. Buses must have the Indian flag pasted, an embassy note said.
Malda’s Bibek Dey is stranded in Kharkiv. Dey senior said the situation was very complicated in Kyiv. “My son told me that there is water scarcity, food is not available, and ATMs were running dry. It is becoming very difficult for them. They were staying in their apartment but ran down to bunkers during air raid sirens. My son told us that the situation was very scary,” Dey said. Ripon Sardar from Bengal’s Swarupnagar told her mother during a WhatsApp video call, “roads are deserted, except for ambulances. Shops are closed. Supermarkets and ATMs have long queues. Most supermarkets are running out of stocks”. Sardar too reached Ukraine for medical studies three months ago. “I sold my land and sent my son for medical studies as he was a meritorious student. Now we are really worried and waiting for him to return,” his father said.
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.