Amid war, uncertainty grips Indian students in Ukraine

Uncertainty was the prevalent emotion among Indian students stranded in Ukraine after Russia intensified its efforts to invade its neighbour on Thursday.

Long queues in front of sup ermarkets, hoarding of essentials leading to scarcity, fear of electricity and internet blackout, extreme weather conditions, ATMs running out of cash are some of the problems, apart from the looming threat of bombing, that were plaguing the Indian students, said Almas Aslam, a first-year MBBS student in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.

While some students such as Abhijeet Sharma, a fifth-semester MBBS student, had planned to take the first flight out of Ukraine on Thursday, the closure of the airport left them stranded in Metro stations and airports.

Good Samaritans such as Sandeep Singh, who is also an educational consultant, have been making provisions to bring stranded Indian students to a medical university hostel so that they have a place to stay and get food.

"Many students had come to the airport thinking they would take a flight out today. But airspace has been shut and they were waiting in Metro stations or airports, fearing to ve nture out again. We have made arrangements at a hostel in Bogomolets Medical University for their stay and food. We have circulated avideo and a lso a message asking students to approach this place if in need," he said from Pune.

According to a tweet by the minister of higher and technical education, 1,200 students from Maharashtra are studying in Ukraine. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Th ackeray, on Thursday, directed the administration to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to ensure safe return of the students and others from the state.

He asked the chief secretary to be in touch with the Centre and officials to maintain contact with people from the state who are stranded in Ukraine.

The chief m inister's office has instructed all districts adm inistrations in the state to set up a district-level control room for anyone seeking help for their relatives or friends in Ukraine.

The Pune control room contact number is 02026 123371 and the email id is controlroompune@gmail. com. Higher and technical education minister Uday Samant also wrote to the prime minister, Home minister and MEA, on Wednesday, requesting them to "safely rescue 1,200 Maharashtra students stuck in the country".