KOCHI: Though the administration has lifted the curfew in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumy in Ukraine and trains from Kyiv started conducting free evacuation services, the Malayali students stuck in the bunkers are doubtful whether they could reach the stations.
Siby Mathew, a student of VN Karazin Kharkiv National University and a native of Thiruvananthapuram, said that many of their friends from other countries have started a risky journey through the war zone to the western borders. Some of the Indian students in Kharkiv are now preparing to t ravel west as they think waiting in the bunkers for evacuation would not be wise as the embassy is not responding to their calls or emails.
“Due to the increased gunfights and bombing in the city, the metro stations now keep their hydraulic doors shut most times and we are literally stuck here. Earlier, we could go out to get food or water but now it is risk y as we may not be able to enter the stations if the doors close. The embassy is not taking any steps to evacuate students from eastern Ukraine. We plan to board any train to the west but we heard all stations are overcrowded,” Mathew said.
Meanwhile, at the border checkpoints in western Ukraine, hundreds of students have got stranded for nearly three days without being able to cross the border.
Anandhu Krishnan of Ternopil National Medical University and a native of Ernakulam said that he has been waiting at the border for three d ays. “We reached the Romanian border as per the advice from the embassy but now they are not letting us in. Many of us have not used the wash room or eaten food for the last two days,” he said.
It is learnt that Ukrainian railways started operating trains for the evacuation and people with the passport of any county are able to leave the territory of Ukrain e without restrictions. A number of trains are currently running to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
