Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): The MP students stranded in Ukraine claimed that the Indian embassy could have rescued them in time like the other countries did.
Aashi Sharma, a fifth-year medical student who hails from Ujjain, while talking to Free Press over a phone call on Friday said, “There was news of the Russian attack in Ukraine from the past one month. The US president asked Americans to leave Ukraine immediately and opened the Poland borders for them. They shifted their embassy to Poland. Universities in Ukraine continued to take offline classes, despite our parents’ concerns. By the time the Indian embassy issued the advisory, it was too late.”
“Almost 15,000 students could not leave Ukraine on three flights that were arranged, costing more than Rs 60,000 per head. Yesterday (Thursday), I woke up with my phone buzzing and sirens across the city as Russia had invaded Ukraine. Everyone outside was rushing to collect ration, groceries and cash they could. It was a failure from the embassy’s side. Many who failed to collect rations are living inside bunkers without them. And we have no option other than waiting for assistance,” she adds.
Another student, Aabhas Parihar, who was denied boarding for a vaccination certificate glitch on February 22 from Laviv, says, “We should have been in India right now. But we are in bunkers. I hope the Indian government works with everyone concerned to rescue us from here. We are in a situation where we cannot even leave our homes. Everything is closed. Our friends in Kyiv and Kharkiv are taking shelters at metro stations, under the ground. We do not know what we should do.”
