Hundreds of Indian students trapped in Sumy City despair as war closes in on them

 

By Daanish Bin Nabi

The Russia-Ukraine war is taking a heavy toll on the physical and mental health of Indian students who are still trapped in various cities in Ukraine.

In the north-eastern Ukraine city of Sumy, around 800 to 900 Indian students are still trapped among the raging war. “Nearly 850 to 900 students are trapped in various hostels of Sumy city,” Muhammad Mehtab Raza, perusing MBBS at Sumy State Medical University said.

“The western borders of Ukraine were normal. The war is actually going on in parts of Ukraine like Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumy. By some means the students in Kyiv and Kharkiv were taken to western borders of Ukraine. However, the students in Sumy were left to fend for themselves,” Aasif Tariq, who is trapped inside a bunker in Sumy city, said.

Aasif said that the Indian ministers people see on social media are in countries like Poland and Warsaw. “No Indian minister has come to cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumy for evacuation,” he said.

When asked why they did not leave Ukraine after the government of India issued the first advisory in the second week of February, Mehtab said that the various university administration had not closed the universities.

“As per the university rules, a fine of 800 to 900 INR is imposed on students who miss a single class. Our offline classes were going-on; how we could have left in such a situation,” Mehtab said.

Indian embassy missing in action

Mehtab said that after the advisory was issued, all of sudden the tickets to India were being sold at a rate of Rs 50,0000-60,000.

He said that whenever they tried to reach the officials of the Indian embassy, they were only given an excuse and told to wait for a few days.

“There is absolutely no help from the government of India,” Mehtab said.

He said that students were waiting for the government of India’s help. “Many students now are saying that they will leave on their own. They say even if we are fired upon or there is an airstrike upon us, we will leave these hostel bunkers,” Mehtab said.

“Government of India officially should tell us how and when they are going to evacuate us. How will buses come and take us to the borders? If any student leaves on his own and dies while trying then the onus of that death will be on the government of India,” he said.

Aasif said that the government of India has categorically said that till the ceasefire is not put in place, they cannot evacuate the students. “They (GoI) have said not to give up hope. But how can we keep up hope in these despicable situations? How can we keep up hope when we don’t even have drinking water?” he said.

Life inside Sumy city

Most of the students gave horrifying details about their struggle of the last 10 days in Sumy city.

The students said that the Red Army had surrounded Sumy city from all the sides while the Ukrainian army had also dug in for a long haul. “Russians have surrounded us from all sides. We cannot go out to get any ration. You never know from which side the fire will hit you,” Aasif said.

He said that the temperature has dipped to almost minus five degrees and there was no drinking water. “There is an Indian pharmacist here. He somehow gets a water tanker. But he does not come himself to the campus. He has local Ukrainian volunteers to give us water. We have to form a line and wait to fill our bottles,” he added.

Mehtab said that the students are facing tremendous hardships and have no access to clean water and basic food.

“We are facing an acute shortage of clean/drinking water. There is no water at all. We are living in miserable conditions. We have not eaten properly for the last 10 days now. There is an NGO and the local officials of our university provide us food with whatever they themselves can get,” Mehtab said.

“We have been trapped here since the last 10 days. There is heavy firing going-on around all our sides. Anything can happen to any student. Today, bombardment took place four times. Luckily, we were safe and no one got injured,” he added.

Aasif, who belongs to India's Baramulla region, shared an interesting anecdote. “Back in Kashmir, we are used to daily firing. So when they fire, it does not scare me at all. But when they bomb, it is like hell. Even Kashmiris students here are not able to cope-up with the situation we are in,” Aasif said.

Living in bunkers

The students also explained what a bunker is inside war-torn Ukraine. “Many in India think that a bunker is something made of concrete or is something related to the military. It is not like that,” Mehtab said.

“After World War II, most of the structures in Europe were designed to be war-prepared. Our hostel is a ten floor building. This building has a basement. It is huge. This basement is what they call a bunker. If you go around many European cities and nations, you will find this basement in every building,” he said.

He said many from India had asked him to show them pictures and videos of bunkers because they get excited when they see or read in news that people in Ukraine are living in bunkers.

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy has said that the Modi govt is exploring all possible means to evacuate Indians from Sumy city.

“We are exploring all possible mechanisms to evacuate citizens trapped in Sumy, safely and securely. We have also discussed evacuation and identification of exit routes with all interlocutors including the Red Cross,” the Indian embassy has said.

The embassy said that the control room will continue to be active until all our citizens are evacuated. “Be Safe Be Strong,” the embassy said.

Published by National Herald on Published: 05 March 2022, 8:37 PM