Parents share harrowing experience of Prayagraj students fleeing Ukraine

Parents and relatives of students from Prayagraj shared the plight of their wards, describing how these students are fighting on the border, trying to get into neighbouring countries so that they can be airlifted by Indian authorities.

For hundreds of Indian students fleeing the war-torn Ukraine to head back home, crossing the borders to reach neighbouring countries to get airlifted by Indian authorities is a nightmarish experience.

Students still trapped in Ukrainian city of Sumi appealing for help. (Sourced)

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the Indian government has launched a mission to airlift Indians stranded in Ukraine. As Ukraine’s airspace is closed, flights are being operated from neighboring Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

Some of the parents and kin of the students belonging to Prayagraj shared the ordeal of their wards, spelling out how these students in a desperate bid to save themselves are fighting on the borders, to get into the neighboring countries so that they could be airlifted by Indian authorities.

Akhilesh Singh, uncle of Allahapur-resident Sanskriti Singh, shared that she along with her classmates reached the Ukraine-Romania border on Saturday evening. Earlier, all the students, including Sanskriti— who went Ukraine just in December 2021 to pursue her MBBS course—had to walk up to 20 kilometers in bitter cold.

“When the exhausted students reached the Ukraine-Romania border, there was chaos. Indian students tried to enter the border of Romania with the help of a small gate on the outskirts but some foreign students studying in Ukraine attacked them. There was a brawl between the students and a student from UP even suffered a fracture in his hand. Some Indian students managed to enter the Romanian border while the rest had to wait till Sunday morning,” said Akhilesh Singh. Students traveling from the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk to Romania had to spend the night under the open sky in the freezing cold (minus 6 degrees), he said.

Students going from Ivano-Frankivsk to Romania from Ukraine were sent across the border to the capital city of Bucharest. Indian Embassy officials received all the students as soon as they entered Romania. After this the students were sent by bus to Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The family members of the students say that now the chances of their child coming back home have increased, shared Singh.

Meanwhile, students trapped in Sumi in Ukraine, have released a video requesting the Indian government for help. The students have expressed their struggle in the video. MBBS students, trapped between missiles being fired by Russians in Ukraine’s Odessa, took a risky step on Sunday in a bid to return to Prayagraj, out of fear and panic.

Dikshant, a native of Neewa area of Prayagraj, reached Moldova on Sunday evening by bus with friends. By sending voice recordings, he assured the family members that they would stay at the Moldova border with friends till further arrangements were made. On the other hand, three students who arrived in Romania on Saturday still staying at the border due to lack of paper quorum.

Dikshant’s father Ramesh Chandra Srivastava said that in view of the deteriorating situation there every moment, Dikshant was anxious to return to his homeland with his friends. Likewise, Satyendra Yadav of Kotwa, Hemant Verma of Sulem Sarai, and Vaibhav Tripathi of Mayapuri-Jhunsi, too have arrived in Romania from Ivano- Frankivsk on Saturday but are still staying at the camps set up at the Romania border.

Meanwhile, Prayagraj district administration has informed that if someone in one’s family is trapped in Ukraine, the parents or kin can inform the district administration about it.

District magistrate (DM) Sanjay Kumar Khatri has made ADM (Finance and Revenue) the nodal officer and also issued helpline numbers, so that action can be taken for safe return of the students. ADM Jagdamba Singh informed that people should provide complete information on the given numbers and email-id of the trapped family member.

This phone number will work 24 hours. Control room numbers are 0532-2641577 and 0532-2641578; mobile number 7524921390. Help line number 9454417842 can also be contacted. Mobile number of ADM, finance and revenue is 9454417588. Besides, information can also be given on email ID, ddmaprayagraj@gmail.com.