Kindness of strangers helped us reach Poland border, says Patiala native caught in Ukraine crisis

Arjun Batish, an MBBS student who reached Poland with a group of 50 Indians stuck in Kyiv, said the assistance from local Ukrainians, who provided them food and warm clothes, turned out to be a boon for them.

Amid death and destruction in war-torn Ukraine, it is the kindness of strangers that is giving stranded Indian students a hope of survival.

Refugees line up at the border crossing in Medyka to get into Poland on Tuesday. 2022. (AFP)

Arjun Batish, an MBBS student who reached Poland with a group of 50 Indians stuck in Kyiv, said the assistance from local Ukrainians turned out to be a boon for them.

“As we were waiting in Lviv to cross the border and enter Poland, locals provided us meals, warm clothes and even arranged a bus for us. We were to cross border through Rava Ruska, where there was a huge rush of refugees. A local advised us to enter Poland from Zosin border, which took us to safe territory in just an hour,” he said.

Sukhdeep Singh, another student hailing from Banga of SBS Nagar, said there is hardly any support from the Indian Embassy. “It is the locals who are providing us all the help – be it guiding us about the route or arranging food and other necessities,” said Singh.

“A local, who seemed to be in his 60s, knew about the Punjabi community and guided us towards a hassle-free route to reach the border,” he added.

Meanwhile, former Punjab deputy speaker Bir Devinder Singh on Tuesday said that India’s stance on Russia’s invasion and abstention in the crucial voting at the UN Security Council meeting and General Assembly is creating a serious problem for the security and safety of Indian students stranded in the armed conflict zones of Ukraine.

Reports emanating from various parts of Ukraine indicate that Ukrainian forces and citizens are becoming hostile and unsympathetically aggressive against Indian students after India’s posturing in favour of Russia in the UN, he said. “India’s foreign ministry and its diplomatic channels engaged in the process of evacuating students must evolve their strategies accordingly,” he said.