Thousands of Indians are trapped in Ukraine. Most of them are
students who went there for higher education. Lakhs of people spent day and
night in subways, metro stations, and underground shelters. In many
places, people saw a shortage of essential goods. The pictures from Ukraine are
widely circulating on social media.
An Indian student from Punjab stranded in Ukraine shares his
war stricken story on social media seeking help from Prime Minister Modi for
his 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 am
stuck in a foreign country during its invasion. Emergency siren & sound of
Bombardment were never used as early morning alarm before. Taking shelter in
metro station & inhabitable dusty bunker, standing in long queue for
supplies, water, cash, trying to check the validity of news from everyone about
this dreadful situation, how the day passes. But I tell all my loved ones that
I am okay amidst the war so they don’t worry any more.”
It feels like I am in
some bad dream when words like war, tanks, invasion, missiles, sirens, bunker,
shelter are used multiple times every passing hour. Sleeping on the floor of
basement & metro station turned into underground bunker, listening to the
nearby bomb attack & shelling and praying to god for the safety of every
Ukrainian habitant, taking turns to sleep so that we stay alert for the
emergency sirens, forced to ignore claustrophobia & captivity in order to
"Survive", getting anxious even if the phone battery drops down less
than 80% or connection problem."All we can do is Hope", these words
have a different meaning now,” said Mudit.
“The situation of Indians in Ukraine is not getting any
better on the second day of war. No notification about the plan of evacuation
from the Indian embassy. Hundreds of students sitting on the floors of a school
hall next to the Indian Embassy in Kyiv, five people eating their only meal of
the day in a single plate. Kharkiv is currently living in the metro stations or
in the dusty hostel basements with almost no internet connectivity. Indian
embassy helpline numbers are of no use, there is no information about what
needs to be done. Answer me, Is it ESSENTIAL now for India to rescue its fellow
nationals from war ridden Ukraine? Why do you need panic & mass protests to
take the necessary steps AT THE RIGHT TIME? Who will you blame if there is some
unfortunate incident because of your incompetence & indecisiveness? You
cant understand the depth of the critical predicament we are in. Get us back to
our families before the situation gets any more worse. WE ARE DOING THE BEST WE
CAN, CAN YOU PLEASE DO YOUR BEST FOR US?@narendramodi,” he added.
Apart from him, many other students who were stranded in
Ukraine are sharing their videos and pleading for help on social media.
Night curfew was imposed in the capital Kyiv on Thursday from
10 pm to 7 am. Ukraine's Defense Minister has claimed that Ukrainian
forces have destroyed 7 Russian aircraft, 6 helicopters, 30 tanks. Ukraine has
claimed that its forces have killed more than 800 Russian soldiers. 30
Russian tanks and 7 spy aircraft have also been destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Indian government is trying to evacuate
stranded Indians. They have issued helpline numbers to help the students and
families living in Ukraine. They have evacuated Indians from Romania. The Air India flight will land in Mumbai at 4 pm today.