219 step off first flight home: Relieved, but worried for others still there

Walking out of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, they were greeted by families and friends who had waited hours. Suddenly, the war in Ukraine seemed distant. Yet most worried for colleagues and friends still trying to get to safety — and a passage home.

Many were from the Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi. Avishkar Muley, a 21-year-old from Pune who is a third-year MBBS student, said: “About 150 of us from the university have been brought back, but another 500 are still stuck there. We were taken to the border (with Romania) in a bus. Our university is around 40 km from the border. Since many people were crowding the border, our bus was stuck for 4-5 hours.”

Vennela Varsha, from Visakhapatnam and part of a group of students from Andhra Pradesh, said: “While we got out easily, the second and third batches of students had to walk in the cold with heavy luggage. Many students are still stuck in the university.”

Sakshi Sharma, a 21-year-old from Himachal Pradesh, said she was worried about those stuck in eastern Ukraine. “We were in the west and comparatively safe. But many Indians are stuck in east Ukraine and I pray for their safety.”

Nagpur’s Himanshu Pawar, also 21, worried about his future. “I am not sure how I will be able to complete my studies.”

BEST employee Harshad Ranshevre had mixed feelings. While daughter Kashimira, 22 years old and a medical student, returned on the Air India flight, his son Aditya, who is 21 and is studying medicine in another university, is stuck near Ukraine’s border with Poland.

Minutes before he hugged his daughter, Harshad said he got a phone call from Aditya who was trying to fight back tears.

“His university is near the Poland border and they began walking Friday. The temperature was minus 3 degrees and they reached the Poland border today. A few thousand Indians are stuck there. He was starving. Fortunately, a Ukrainian family has allowed them to spend the night in their basement. I hope our government rescues them as well. I am also tense about their studies. I sold part of my ancestral land and borrowed money from relatives to fund their studies.”

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For now, there’s relief. And joy that their children are safe, and home. Many thanked the government for moving swiftly to pull out Indian nationals from the conflict zone.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who was at Mumbai airport to receive those evacuated, said: “We are happy that 219 of our citizens who are mostly students, the majority of them girls, have come back safely. The Prime Minister especially asked me to go to Mumbai to ensure that they are taken care of. Their immigration was done smoothly and they are being sent to their respective destinations.”

“These children came from Ukraine and reached Bucharest. The courage shown by these students is reflective of a self-confident India. The people have confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they know that with him at the helm, they are safe,” he said.

The government, Goyal said, was committed to ensuring the safe return of every Indian citizen stuck in Ukraine.

“We will be working towards ensuring that every single Indian citizen returns safely. The Prime Minister is himself monitoring the situation. The PM has had talks with heads of both Russia and Ukraine to ensure the safe return of Indian citizens. I would like to tell every citizen who is present there that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and all our officials are working 24 hours to ensure that every citizen returns safely,” he said.