Indian students stranded in Ukraine; India Inc in wait and watch mode
Premium- Indian students are exchanging messages, videos of Russian missiles hitting the western part of Ukraine but do not know how to reach a safer place
Sayan Chowdhury, a fourth-year student of Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University in Ukraine, plans to take refuge in the bunkers of his hostel, a few meters away from his apartment. Till Wednesday night, his college and people at the city centre assured him that Russia will not attack Ukraine. But Thursday morning he saw plumes of smoke rising from the Ivano Frankivsk airport and knew that Russia had carried out missile attacks on Ukraine.
"There were long queues at ATMs but most were empty. Even our credit cards were not working initially. Indian students gathered outside grocery stores and later in the day we got a message from our banks that our credit cards were operational," said Chowdhury, who managed to buy food for the next few weeks.
Chowdhury has an outbound flight to India in March. An earlier flight was not possible because they were upwards of a lakh per which would otherwise have cost him ₹20,000- ₹30,000.
"We could have left earlier but our college wanted 100% attendance, even now authorities are telling us to remain "pro-Ukraine" and asking us not to panic, but we want to get back home," said another medical student who did not want to be named.
The students are exchanging messages, videos of Russian missiles hitting the western part of Ukraine but do not know how to reach a safer place. Some of them like Alisha (name changed) are in hostel where they are cooking on their own and there is no faculty around.
"We came in December and within three months heading back to India is unaffordable. There are guards in hostels but no one else. We have cell phones charged but lights may go out anytime," the 21-year-old from Aurangabad told Mint.
Priti Sahu, a second-year student at Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University, plans to brave a 10–12-hour journey to Kyiv like some of her classmates did. "I will head to Kyiv or try to go to Lviv and take a flight to India. We are finding out if Poland will allow us entry and we can take a flight from there," added Sahu from Allahabad.
The Indian Embassy in Kyiv issued a notice on Thursday afternoon stating that the scheduled special flights were cancelled because the Ukranian air space was closed. Alternate plans to evacuate Indians are being arranged.
There are about 18,000 Indian students in Ukraine and a large chunk of them are medical students.
Indian Inc is also closely monitoring the impact of these attacks on their employees posted in Ukraine.
"We have had a presence in the region for over three decades. Ensuring the well-being of our staff is our first and foremost priority, along with measures to meet patient needs and business continuity. We have been monitoring developments closely and preparing accordingly, and continue to do so," said Dr Reddy's Laboratories in response to an email query from Mint.
A senior executive in an Indian business house said that it had a CIS team but over the last few months has ensured that no Ukranian employee reports to a Russian employee and vice versa.
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