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Ludhiana | Our kids are stuck in Kharkiv with dwindling food supplies, say parents
After massive explosions rocked south of Kyiv and Russian forces stormed into Kharkiv after blowing up a gas pipeline in the city, the parents of 34 medical students from Ludhiana, who are stuck in Ukraine (primarily Kharkiv) are feeling helpless and anxious
After massive explosions rocked south of Kyiv and Russian forces stormed into Kharkiv after blowing up a gas pipeline in the city, the parents of 34 medical students from Ludhiana, who are stuck in Ukraine (primarily Kharkiv) are feeling helpless and anxious.
Even though the Ukraine army on Sunday took back full control of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, hours after Russian troops entered the northeastern city, parents say their children are facing acute food and water shortage huddled as they are in crowded bomb shelters with the sound of machine guns and explosions breaking out sporadically.
Parents say majority medical students from Ludhiana are stuck in Kharkiv, which has been the worst hit. With the Hungary and Poland border around 1,200km away, the students can hardly risk setting out towards the border, and with the sounds of war surrounding them, staying put in Kharkiv does not seem wise either. “It is a Catch-22 situation,” says a parent.
Ekta Ghulati, the mother of Lakshay Ghulati, a fourth-semester student at Kharkiv National Medical University is distraught since she heard of shelling in the region.
“My son is currently taking refuge in a bunker along with 700 other students. He says they are slowly running out of food. He is my only son and we had sent him abroad for a better future, but now he is stuck in a war zone,” she said, adding that no Punjab government official had approached the family.
“Using the helpline numbers, we have registered ourselves with the district administration, but have received no update from the government,” said Ekta Ghulati, whose son was scheduled to return on February 25, but was stuck after war broke out two days before he could leave.
She says that though it is the students who are stuck in the war-torn region, but the parents are not faring any better. “Lakshay’s maternal grandmother, an octogenarian, is neither eating nor sleeping due to stress. She keeps asking after Lakshay every few minutes,” adds Ghulati.
Another parent, Balwinder Singh of Punjab Mata Nagar, is also worried out of his mind, with his son Simranpeet Singh, a fifth- semester MBBS student stuck in the heart of the conflict.
“There are over 4,000 students of Punjab-origin in Kharkiv, which is located on the eastern side of Ukraine. While airlifting is taking place from the western side of Ukraine, the way bombing is taking place, it is virtually impossible for them to travel 1200km, which is a two-day travel by bus.”
Dissatisfied with the government’s initiative, he says, “Instead of telling the students to risk their lives and travel to western Ukraine, the government should make arrangement to airlift these students from the war-zone.”
Another fourth-semester MBBS student, Nitish, who returned on February 15, is thanking his lucky stars. “The tension was mounting but no one was expecting Russia to invade Ukraine. Fortunately, I left before war broke out,” he says.
