Thousands of Indians are trapped in Ukraine. Most of them arestudents who went there for higher education. Lakhs of people spent day andnight in subways, metro stations, and underground shelters. In manyplaces, people saw a shortage of essential goods. The pictures from Ukraine arewidely circulating on social media.
An Indian student from Punjab stranded in Ukraine shares hiswar stricken story on social media seeking help from Prime Minister Modi forhis safe return. Mudit Bedi, from Amritsar, Punjab, wrote, “In the 21st century,20 years old like me refuses to believe that a situation has arised where I amstuck in a foreign country during its invasion. Emergency siren & sound ofBombardment were never used as early morning alarm before. Taking shelter inmetro station & inhabitable dusty bunker, standing in long queue forsupplies, water, cash, trying to check the validity of news from everyone aboutthis dreadful situation, how the day passes. But I tell all my loved ones thatI am okay amidst the war so they don’t worry any more.”
It feels like I am insome bad dream when words like war, tanks, invasion, missiles, sirens, bunker,shelter are used multiple times every passing hour. Sleeping on the floor ofbasement & metro station turned into underground bunker, listening to thenearby bomb attack & shelling and praying to god for the safety of everyUkrainian habitant, taking turns to sleep so that we stay alert for theemergency sirens, forced to ignore claustrophobia & captivity in order to"Survive", getting anxious even if the phone battery drops down lessthan 80% or connection problem."All we can do is Hope", these wordshave a different meaning now,” said Mudit.
“The situation of Indians in Ukraine is not getting anybetter on the second day of war. No notification about the plan of evacuationfrom the Indian embassy. Hundreds of students sitting on the floors of a schoolhall next to the Indian Embassy in Kyiv, five people eating their only meal ofthe day in a single plate. Kharkiv is currently living in the metro stations orin the dusty hostel basements with almost no internet connectivity. Indianembassy helpline numbers are of no use, there is no information about whatneeds to be done. Answer me, Is it ESSENTIAL now for India to rescue its fellownationals from war ridden Ukraine? Why do you need panic & mass protests totake the necessary steps AT THE RIGHT TIME? Who will you blame if there is someunfortunate incident because of your incompetence & indecisiveness? Youcant understand the depth of the critical predicament we are in. Get us back toour families before the situation gets any more worse. WE ARE DOING THE BEST WECAN, CAN YOU PLEASE DO YOUR BEST FOR US?@narendramodi,” he added.
Apart from him, many other students who were stranded inUkraine are sharing their videos and pleading for help on social media.
Night curfew was imposed in the capital Kyiv on Thursday from10 pm to 7 am. Ukraine's Defense Minister has claimed that Ukrainianforces have destroyed 7 Russian aircraft, 6 helicopters, 30 tanks. Ukraine hasclaimed that its forces have killed more than 800 Russian soldiers. 30Russian tanks and 7 spy aircraft have also been destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Indian government is trying to evacuatestranded Indians. They have issued helpline numbers to help the students andfamilies living in Ukraine. They have evacuated Indians from Romania. The Air India flight will land in Mumbai at 4 pm today.