New Delhi:
As a sign of how desperate the situation is in war-torn Ukraine, a video showed Indian students at a hostel in the northeastern city of Sumy collecting snow to melt it for water.
They say that about 800-900 Indian students have been locked up in the hostels of the Medical Institute of Sumy State University for more than a week, running out of food and water.
They have no indications of an evacuation and have already appealed to the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying: “We will all be killed”.
“Nothing has been done for us. We have seen some foreign students leave Sumy alone, but they have been shot. We have videos to show it,” an Indian student said in the message. Behind him are about a hundred students, all concerned.
“We expected the government to help, but we have no information. Some say there are buses waiting at the Russian border, which is about 50 km from here. When we walk from the hostel, there are snipers in all four directions, everywhere. We are afraid of air strikes. There are bombings every 20 minutes,” said the student.
“We request Narendra Modi ji, please get us out of here, otherwise we will be killed. If we run out of here alone, we will be killed. We ask the government of India to please help us,” he added. †
The Indian embassy warned last week of heavy fighting in Kharkov, Sumy and Kiev. According to reports, trains and buses have stopped running in Sumy, roads and bridges outside the city have been destroyed and there has been fierce street fighting.
The government has flown home thousands of Indian students who have reached the western border in Ukraine. It has said it will carry out as many evacuation flights as needed under Operation Ganga and flights are the least of the concerns.
How the students would reach the western border from cities deep in Ukraine is of the utmost concern.