Over 1,200 Indian students stranded at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine make A desperate call for help as they are not getting any response from the Indian embassy.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com reports.
All Photographs and Videos: Kind courtesy Shubhanshu Bairagi, Indian student in Ukraine.
Even as India expedited the efforts to evacuate students stranded in war-torn Ukraine, around 1,200 of them from the Zaporizhzhia State Medical University feel 'abandoned' by the Indian embassy, while Russian forces close in towards Kyiv.
Forced to stay in bunkers for the last two days, their most immediate fear is that they will run out of drinking water soon if help doesn't reach in time.
Of these stranded students, who are from different states of India, 11 gave their names to Rediff.com, asking for help.
Shbhanshu Bairagi from Madhya Pradesh; Kunal Jinde, Yashraj Wakchaure, Dnyanesh Gadhave, Pratham and Vivek Gour from Maharashtra; Misbah Rahmat from Bihar; Gaurav Suresh from Karnataka, Arka Sammdder from West Bengal; Salman Alam from Uttar Pradesh and Himanshu Soni from Rajasthan.
Speaking to Rediff.com, Bairagi, a resident of Ujjain in MP, said, "India's entire rescue operation is concentrated in two cities: Kyiv and Kharkiv. They have forgotten students who are stranded in other cities like us. Indian students are spread across different cities of Ukraine and are not restricted only to these two."
Zaporizhzhia is 500 km away from Kyiv.
"We are trying to call the Indian embassy, but there is no response. We have personally tweeted and used different social media platforms to ask for help from the Indian government, but there is no word about our evacuation. I hope they read this report and evacuate us soon because survival is becoming difficult for us day by day," says Bairagi.
Till last week, these students were feeling safe in Ukraine, but now the war situation has turned so grim that fear looms large over them.
Poland is 800 km away from their city and these students cannot take the risk of going out on their own by arranging private vehicles as there is a curfew-like situation in almost every city of Ukraine.
Moreover, they are seeing viral videos of Indian students who have managed to make it to the Polish border, but are stuck there because Poland is not letting them in.
"We cannot step out as the troops have a shoot-at-sight order; any person seen on roads will be considered an enemy of Ukraine. Our survival has become very difficult. I am left with only 5 litres of drinking water, which I am sharing with my friends in the bunker. I don't know from where will we get drinking water once it gets over," said Misbah Rahmat, a student from Patna.
Food supplies are also running out and the students are pooling personal resources and cooking food in commune to survive.
"We have no idea for how long we will be able to continue in this way," says Kunal Jinde from Mumbai.
"As soon as we hear the siren, all 1,200 of us rush to the bunkers. We fear there could be a stampede because the time is very limited to make it to the bunker," says Jinde.
So far, Russian planes have not bombed Zaporizhzhia. But cities which are 100 km away have been hit by air strikes.
"We have only heard the sound of fighter jets. And that itself is very scary because you never know when will they drop bombs on you," says Bairagi.
To make matters worse, the advisory issued to all Indian nationals/students in Ukraine stated that every Indian citizen must carry their passport and cash, preferably in US dollars, for any emergency expenses.
"How can we bring cash and that too in dollars? This is a ridiculous demand. There is shortage of dollars across Ukraine. The government must not add such harsh clauses for evacuation because students have no money, no food and water," says an anguished Bairagi.
At present, the straw these students are clutching at is the power supply, which, they hope, will not go out otherwise they will not be able to charge their mobile phones and communicate with people outside.
"We are only hoping for the best on the electricity front. We are keeping mobile charged to 100 per cent at all times, fearing that there will be a permanent power cut soon and then we will be cut off from rest of the world."
"I only hope the Indian embassy acts fast," says Bairagi, "as time is running out for us."
Watch: Indian Students Appeal for Help
