HYDERABAD: Groping in the dark to find their way climbing down stairs, Indian students took cover in bomb shelters as Russia pounded Ukraine on Thursday.
Several Telugu students made their way into bomb shelters in Kyiv to escape from the bombing that was going on. The scared students held their hands, helping one another, with some showing the way with the mobile phone light, to find what would be a safe place.
In fact, the one strong advice that the Indian embassy gave to Indian students was this: Check google maps, find a bomb shelter. "We are starving. We have no food or water. We can hear bombs. Our parents back home are worried about us," a medical student Srija said. The student hailing from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh made a video in which she said a large number of students were suffering. She appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AP CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy to evacuate them in military flights, if need be.
Telangana IT and municipal administration minister K T Rama Rao urged external affairs minister S Jaishankar to ensure the safety of the Indian students in Ukraine 'in these times of distress'.
"Have been receiving several messages from anxious parents of students. Hope Government of India can work through diplomatic channels and reassure all Indians at the earliest," he said in a tweet to the external affairs minister.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 resulted in a lot of difficulties for Indian students. The Indian ambassador to Ukraine, Partha Satpathy, in a message to Indian nationals in Ukraine advised those who were stranded in Kyiv, to get in touch with friends, colleagues, universities and community members for temporary lodging. "We have reached out to the Indian diaspora and have requested them to assist you to the best of their abilities," Satpathy said.
Several students who sought help from the embassy were accommodated in a school in Keeyav. Those stuck at Keeyav railway station urged the Indian government to take them to a safe place.
