A special flight carrying 77 students from war-hit Ukraine landed at Biju Patnaik Airport here on Monday evening.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik was present at the airport to greet the students along with their parents and relatives who raised “welcome back” slogans.

“We are thankful to the chief minister for taking the initiative to bring back the students. At the same time, we request the chief minister to take steps to help students finish their courses,” said a parent of one of the students.

After reaching here, one of the students said: “We walked for nearly 35km to board a bus out of Kyiv. The Odisha government had arranged a bus to evacuate us from Ukraine. The situation was tense and very bad there. We are happy now.”

The airport was packed with parents, relatives and reporters.

“We were in bunker there. We walked for nearly seven to eight hours to board a train. We are hopeful that the Odisha government will provide us the required education facilities,” a girl student said.

Students arrive at Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar. Ashwini Kumar Pati

“The Ukranian army as well as the Russian army have helped in our safe evacuation from the war zone. We reached the border after battling all kinds of risks,” another girl said.

Another student said: “I am thankful to chief minister Naveen Patnaik sir. He had arranged the buses, accommodation and everything from Ukraine border to Bhubaneswar. It was too tough a journey from Kharkiv to the border of Poland.”

Naveen assured the students that the state government would take all steps to enable them to pursue their medical courses.

The chief minister had on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow medical students returning from Ukraine to pursue their medical education in India.

“We don’t want to return to Ukraine to continue our studies. The chief minister has already taken up the issue. Hope the Centre will take a positive decision on the issue,” said a girl student.

After reaching Delhi, all the students were taken to Odisha Niwas. Later, they were brought to Odisha in a special flight from Delhi arranged by the state government.

Earlier, the Odisha government had nominated four eminent personalities from different backgrounds to help in the evacuation of stranded students in Ukraine by coordinating with the Centre.