Even as Indian students from western Ukraine are being evacuated from neighbouring countries, Indian students in Sumy, which is in the eastern part of Ukraine, continue to face a harrowing time awaiting help from the Indian authorities. Around 500 students still in Sumy have been struggling without electricity and water ever since the explosion that took place near their Sumy State University on Thursday night. After a video of the stranded students stating that they could not wait for more than a day for help and would start towards the borders at risk to their lives, the Indian embassy reached out to them and advised them to stay put. “We are deeply concerned about Indian students in Sumy, Ukraine. Have strongly pressed Russian and Ukrainian governments through multiple channels for an immediate ceasefire to create a safe corridor for our students,” MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on the afternoon of Saturday, March 5.
Meanwhile the students in Sumy are struggling with failing electricity as well as food and water supplies. “The electricity is intermittent. We still don’t have water. We are now collecting snow and melting it and using it for our basic needs,” shared Neelima Das, a fifth-year student of Sumy State University. “We have restricted our food because of the shortage and so that we don’t have to use the restroom. We are surviving on biscuits. We have stopped cooking because of the shortage of water. She and the other students holed up in a bunker in Sumy are hoping that the Indian embassy will facilitate an evacuation process on war footing,” she added.
A message on Friday, March 4, on the official Facebook page of the Indian Embassy in Ukraine, had brought hope to the students. The Embassy, in the message, assured that all possible mechanisms are being explored to evacuate the Indian citizens in Sumy. However, early on Saturday morning, students who slept inside a bunker in Sumy, woke up to sounds of shelling and explosions.
Speaking to TNM, Malavika Manoj, a third-year student at Sumy University, said, “We were elated when we heard about the ceasefire, and decided to start off to the border. However, the shelling continued. We then realised that the ceasefire in not in Sumy and Kharkhiv but only for Mariupol and Volnovakha.”
The students from Sumy University gathered together and shot a video in which the students urge the Indian government to evacuate them immediately. The students said in the video that if help doesn’t come, they will start towards to border even though it will pose a risk to their lives. One of the students in the video can be heard saying, “We want our government now.” Another student can be heard saying, “If anything happens to any of us, then Mission Ganga would become a failure and the government would be responsible.”
This was just sent by an Indian student stuck in Sumy, #Ukraine. Please listen @IndiainUkraine. The students are saying they can't wait anymore, they will start a risky journey to the border (hopefully they won't have to) pic.twitter.com/dFPgczRuZG
— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) March 5, 2022
Speaking about the intention of shooting the video and circulating the message, Malavika said, “Through the video, we wanted to convey to the government that we could wait only for one more day. If there is no decision taken about our evacuation then we will begin our dangerous journey to the Russian border. There is no ceasefire in our city, we can still here shelling and blasts. We hope that this message is received by the Indian government.” She added, “However, the Embassy has asked us to not get out of our hostel premises now. Strict instruction has been conveyed.”
The students in Sumy have been stranded because it is located on the eastern side of Ukraine, closer to the Russian border. Reaching the western side of Ukraine and then crossing over to countries like Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland wasn’t possible for these students as they would have to travel nearly 1,200-1,500 kilometres to get there.