An Irish medical student who is studying in war-torn Ukraine has told how she is stuck in a hostel on the Russian border.
Racheal Diyaolu, 19, from Carlow, travelled to Ukraine in November 2021 to study medicine after completing her Leaving Cert.
She is currently studying at the State University in Sumy, Ukraine - right on the Russian border.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror on Monday night, she said hundreds of international students are spread across several hostels and aged between 18-26 years old.
She could not flee the country as all flights and bus routes stopped almost instantly when Russia invaded last Thursday.
She said: “The airspace has been wiped so we can’t fly out and to get to a neighbouring country like Poland we will have to go through the major cities in Ukraine and that’s just not possible with the bombing.
“Buses between cities have been stopped and it will be risking my life trying to get through major cities.
“We have had to go to the bunker a number of times because we can hear the bombing and ammunition.”
Ms Diyaolu said there is a curfew between 6am and 6pm and it takes hours to get a taxi in order to get to a corner shop to buy the essentials.
She said people are having to “beg, borrow and steal” to get to a shop and prices of goods have been hiked up.
She said she is trying to stay positive but can’t believe she is in a country that’s at war.
She told the Irish Mirror: “I try to stay positive and hope this should be over soon.
“I’m really religious and I have a strong belief that God will see me through.
“There is no point dwelling on the negatives as you can get so overwhelmed so I am trying to stay positive.”
She said her family back home in Carlow, particularly her mother, is really worried about her safety.
She added: “I’m trying to be strong for her [mother].”
She said she is trying not to leave the hostel too much as it could be “traumatising” to see things and added the area she is in has not been totally destroyed.
She said her family have been in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and claimed officials have told her the best thing to do is stay put.
She said: “It’s hard to refute that as there is limited transport but we feel so helpless.”
The med-student also said she fears she will be turned away or prevented from taking transport if she did manage to make it to a major Ukrainian city.
It follows anecdotal reports and accounts on social media that African people have been turned away from accessing buses and trains to go to the border of other countries.
On Monday, Nigeria's government condemned reports that its citizens, and those of other African countries, have been stopped from leaving war-torn Ukraine.
Ms Diyaolu added: “I’m Nigerian and the first thing you’ll see is my skin colour and not my passport.
“The thought of travelling down and risking your life and to be turned away is devastating.”
