'I had no idea that my life would turn into a horror show.'
'I was stuck as the Russians kept bombing Kyiv non-stop.'
Not listening to his friends almost cost Hyderabad student Junaid Ali his life, as he was left all alone in Kyiv on March 1 amidst the Russian bombing and shelling.
Junaid spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf about his ordeal, and how he escaped from Kyiv where he is a first year MBBS student.
This is his story:
When Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, I was staying with four friends in a rented flat in Kyiv, the Ukraine capital.
We had no idea what to do next, but I got the feeling after talking to Ukrainians that the Russian attack on their country was a routine affair and the Russians would never launch a full-fledged war.
I believed the Ukrainians, but my flat-mates started having doubts.
On February 26, they decided to leave for the Poland border. Like a fool, I did not join them.
I believed that this was a routine extension of Russian military drills in Ukrainian territory.
I believed that I would laugh at my friends who had left and I would be sitting in Kyiv and attending classes whereas they left the country in haste.
When I look back, I feel it was the worst decision of my life not to move out of Kyiv with my friends.
I had no idea that my life would soon turn into a horror show.
I was stuck as the Russians kept bombing Kyiv non-stop.
The war had escalated and since every Indian student had left Kyiv, I was stranded all alone with no help.
On March 1, I decided to go to the Kyiv railway station and take a train.
Video: Indian students crossing the Ukraine-Romania border
When I reached the railway station, I saw the entire city was waiting to board trains and somehow escape Kyiv.
I was the only Indian at the Kyiv railway station.
Ukrainian railway officials did not allow me to board the train which was very crowded.
Their priority was for children to be evacuated first to be followed by women and then Ukrainian nationals.
Everyone in Kyiv wanted to leave for cities in western Ukraine like Lviv, which was safer.
I had no choice, but to wait for my number to come.
I waited till 9 pm only to realise that all trains going to Lviv were jampacked and there was no way I could get there.
I just wanted to escape Kyiv, which was being bombed by Russian planes.
I also made the mistake of not talking to my other Indian friends at Kyiv medical university. I had no idea that they had been evacuated in big numbers earlier.
Realising that I would not be able to board a train from Kyiv I decided to wait.
I waited outside the railway station in -5 centigrade temperature in vain hope.
By 9 pm, I came to know that there was a train going to Poltava.
I decided I would board that train because Poltava was not under heavy Russian bombardment like Kyiv.
Everyone was running away to the west of Ukraine and here I was going to the eastern Ukraine city of Poltava which is closer to Russia than Kyiv.
I wanted to run away from Kyiv which was under heavy bombardment.
I felt any city would be good to survive in Ukraine other than Kyiv.
By the time I reached Poltava, I ran out of money and had nowhere to go.
I didn't know anyone in the city and my only aim was to survive.
I was happy I was breathing and I was alive.
It was freezing cold and the only place I thought I could go to was a mosque which would at least give me a roof over my head.
I walked some miles before I reached a mosque called the Islamic Cultural Centre in Poltova.
I took shelter in the mosque for five days. Luckily, the Muslims of Poltava helped me with food.
I had mobile connectivity and no shortage of electricity in the mosque. I could charge my phone and speak from time to time with my family.
But I knew this was not my final destination and I had to move out before Russian air planes started bombing this city too.
Luckily, at that time, I met two Indian students from Poltava. They were looking for Indians so that they could get 18 students needed to hire a bus for the Romanian border.
I joined these students, one was from Rajasthan and the other was from Uttar Pradesh.
I moved out of the mosque and joined them in their house for one day, but unlike them I had no money.
Video: Indian students take the bus organised by Khalsa Aid from Poltova to Romania.
At this point of time, Harvinder Singh from Khalsa Aid came to my help. I had got in touch with him on social media.
I realised I was not the only Indian student stranded in Ukraine, thousands were stranded and each of them had their own struggle and problems which were unique to them.
Khalsa Aid was like a god-send, an angel, to me in Ukraine. They told me that they would arrange a bus for me to reach the Romania border.
Khalsa Aid was coordinating with other stranded Indian students because the bus driver, who was to take us to the Romanian border, did not want to take just three Indian students on board.
Somehow, Khalsa Aid managed to get 18 Indian students. All of us reached the bus station before 7 pm, the curfew time.
After waiting for some time and getting security clearance -- from where I have no idea -- our bus started moving.
It took 24 hours for our bus to reach the Romanian border.
I was only hoping that Russian planes did not bomb our bus while we were on the move.
When I reached the Romanian border, I saw 54 Indian nationals waiting in the queue to clear immigration.
Video: Indian students queue in the immigration line at the Romanian border.
I felt a huge sense of relief when I saw ministry of external affairs officials waiting to welcome Indian students.
I realised at that moment that it was just a matter of time that I would be back home in Hyderabad.
Looking back at my ordeal, I feel I should have listened to my friends and moved out of Kyiv on February 26 itself.
But then, there is no way I can go back and reverse that decision.
I am just happy I am alive and I survived the Russian bombings.
