PUNE Even as ‘Operation Ganga’ to evacuate Indian students from Ukraine has continued into the 12th day of the Russian invasion, 7 students from Pune district are still stuck in the war-torn country.
At the beginning of the evacuation operation, the district administration drew up a list of 109 students from Pune studying medicine in Ukraine. Till Monday, 102 students have been brought back to India. While ,of the remaining seven students from the Pune district, three students are in Poland, one student is in Oman and three students are in transit.
Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh said, “Our officials went to visit all the students who have returned from Ukraine and all the necessary help is being provided to them after reaching India by facilitating their transit to their respective homes in Pune district. We are taking a daily follow-up of the students.”
As regards the students who are still stuck in Ukraine, Deshmukh said that the administration is continuously in touch with them. “Also, coordination between the district administration and other government authorities is underway. Students who are in transit are being guided by the administration,” he said.
Ashutosh Marne, who is in his second year of MBBS at Kharkiv city in Ukraine, said that some of the students he was travelling with were confronted by Russian soldiers to verify their nationality. “I, along with five other students from India, was travelling towards the Romanian border last week and we had to walk for around 25km after which we got a tourist bus to go ahead. But on our way, we were confronted by Russian soldiers who stopped us for checking. They were not talking to us much but there was a lot of fear amongst us and once they verified our identity cards and passports, only then they let us go,” said Marne.
{{/usCountry}}Ashutosh Marne, who is in his second year of MBBS at Kharkiv city in Ukraine, said that some of the students he was travelling with were confronted by Russian soldiers to verify their nationality. “I, along with five other students from India, was travelling towards the Romanian border last week and we had to walk for around 25km after which we got a tourist bus to go ahead. But on our way, we were confronted by Russian soldiers who stopped us for checking. They were not talking to us much but there was a lot of fear amongst us and once they verified our identity cards and passports, only then they let us go,” said Marne.
{{/usCountry}}Till now, around 8,000 Indian students who were stuck in Ukraine have been safely evacuated from neighbouring countries and the evacuation operation is still underway. There are around 18,000 Indian students studying in various Ukrainian universities out of which approximately 2,500 students are from Maharashtra. While 2,000 students from Maharashtra have been brought back to India, around 500 students remain stranded in Ukraine.
About the ongoing evacuation operation, Dr Sudarshan Gherde, president of the Foreign Medical Association of India (FMAI) which helps students get admission in foreign universities, said, “Our students are facing many difficulties in getting to the borders; many of them are still in bunkers or on their way to get to the nearest border. In some of the cities, there is no mobile network or connectivity, food and other necessary supplies are also over. It is a great relief that the Indian government has taken up the evacuation operation aggressively and we hope to get all our students out of the war zone,” Dr Gherde said.