With the increased tense situation in Ukraine, the Indian students stranded in the country are asked to cross the Ukrainian border to reach the countries that share borders with Ukraine. Where the students have alleged that the Ukrainian guards at the border did not allow them to cross the border and in fact, they were harassed and beaten up.
Some of the students have shared the video of the brutal behaviour of the Ukrainian guards at the border wherein, the guards in uniform are seen kicking the students. Sharing her video, an Indian student described their situation at the moment. She alleged the Indian embassy to Ukraine of not receiving calls and ignoring them in this grave situation. She further stated that the embassy had issued an advisory for them to reach the borders and then they will be evacuated. But the thing is, she said that the border is around 800 km from their current location in Kyiv and how are they, as students, manage to reach there in such a situation.
Another student being unknown of what uncertain course of events were really going on outside their stay, shared a video saying that they are stuck in Kyiv and surrounded by all sides. Nobody is here to help us, she added alleging that some of them who left to reach the borders by bus or cab, were stopped by the Russian army and faced firing. Following this, the Russian army took girls with them and we don’t know what happened to male students, added the student, who hails from Lucknow, UP. She further urged the Indian government to help evacuate all the Indian students from Ukraine.
However, the “urgent advisory” issued for Indians also includes the information regarding the buses arranged by them at Shehyni on the Ukrainian side of the border to take Indians to border checkpoints and transit them into Poland.
Also, the Ministry of External Affairs has created a dedicated Twitter handle to aid and support Indians in Ukraine for evacuation under Operation Ganga. The Twitter handle is named OpGanga Helpline, which lists helpline numbers in all the nations that share borders with Ukraine. The helpline numbers include the numbers in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovak Republic.
A total of 271 Indian students, stuck in Ukraine, returned to India via Romania on Saturday. However, the reports claim that there are still around 16,000 Indian students stranded in Ukraine, who, at the moment, are taking shelter in underground bunkers and bomb shelters.
