After walking miles to reach the borders amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and sub-zero temperatures, three medical students from the district are finally safely ensconced in their homes. However, their uncertainty and worries are far from over with their future and careers in limbo.
Recalling the harrowing ordeal still makes a shiver run down their spine. “We walked many miles without food and water. We were pulled and pushed out of trains and buses. It was a terrible nightmare,” say Ukraine returnees Yashvi, Karanveer and Tanushree.
Returning from the war zone, they cannot wrap their head around how within the span of a day landmarks they had become used to had been reduced to ruins.
21-year-old Tanushree’s feet are still swollen and her mother was seen applying an home-made ointment to help them heal. “The emotional scars will unfortunately take years to fade. Almost all of us spent days without food. Soon after war broke out, we saw people lose their humanity. Not only were we subjected to racial abuse, some of us were assaulted as well. The boys suffered more than us. Some of them were made to stand in queues for nearly three days and were beaten up for trying to cross the border,” says the fourth-year MBBS student at Ternopil National Medical University.
.The daughter of a security personnel, Tanushree walked around 50 km to reach the Ukraine-Poland border. “Fifty-seven of us hired a bus on February 25 to reach the Ukraine-Poland border from Ternopil. But the bus driver left us midway, around 50km away from the first checkpoint. We kept walking for two days amid the snow and finally reached the first check post. “We were told that the borders were not open. When we arrived, the borders were open, but the soldiers were not allowing us to pass. After hours of wait, girls were allowed to cross, while the boys were made to stand in queues,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}.The daughter of a security personnel, Tanushree walked around 50 km to reach the Ukraine-Poland border. “Fifty-seven of us hired a bus on February 25 to reach the Ukraine-Poland border from Ternopil. But the bus driver left us midway, around 50km away from the first checkpoint. We kept walking for two days amid the snow and finally reached the first check post. “We were told that the borders were not open. When we arrived, the borders were open, but the soldiers were not allowing us to pass. After hours of wait, girls were allowed to cross, while the boys were made to stand in queues,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}Yashasvi, a fourth-year MBBS student at Ternopil National Medical University, left Ukraine via Romania. “I left Ternopil on February 24. However, I had to spend one night in a bunker, which was a miserable experience. Since there was no help from university authorities, we arranged a bus on our own and then due to a long jam we had to walk 15km to reach the Romanian border,” he said.
He was able to get in touch with an NGO, and spent two days at an accommodation arranged by them.
Karanveer, a first-year student at the same university, said that warmongers should visit Ukraine and see for themselves how war destroys everything. “Ukraine will never be the same again,” he laments.