Priya, a fifth-year MBBS student at Kharkiv National Medical University in eastern Ukraine, has not slept since the Russian invasion began more than 24 hours ago.

The student, whose family is in Delhi, said the Indian embassy did not provide proper guidance in advance.

She is currently putting up with friends in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, having travelled there as Russia massed troops along the borders and an attack increasingly seemed inevitable.

“When we contacted the Indian embassy, initially they did not have any clue about the impending situation. Later, they said those whose stay was not essential may leave Ukraine. This was a confusing piece of advice. It was only on February 18 (six days before the invasion) that they said we have to leave, which was almost impossible due to the paucity of time and flights,” Priya said.

Indian students are feeling helpless and scared in Ukraine. On Thursday, videos had emerged on social media of students flooding the Indian embassy in Kyiv for shelter and also flocking to the railway station as Ukraine’s airspace was shut. The students alleged they were not being offered proper guidance. Back in India, the Opposition accused the Narendra Modi government of being a laggard in beginning evacuation, following which a plan was announced to extricate stranded Indians via border routes through four countries neighbouring Ukraine.

According to a written reply by minister of state for external affairs V. Muraleedharan in the Rajya Sabha on July 22, 2021, there were 18,000 Indian students in Ukraine.

Shruti Velankar, a BTech student at the National Aviation University in Kyiv, said she and seven other students were staying together in her apartment since the invasion began. They have stored some ration, but that will be over in a week. The local supermarket has run out of stocks because of panic buying, she said.

“Air strikes are happening continuously in this city. The local people here are leaving the country for other nations. We cannot do that. We are helpless. We are praying to God that this war ends soon,” Shruti said.

Her father Samir Velankar, who lives in Mumbai, appealed to Prime Minister Modi to evacuate the students to safety.

“The situation was not so bad. Last week, we asked our daughter to come back. But flights were not available. So she stayed back. I believe in the leadership and statesmanship of Modiji. I appeal to him to ensure all Indian students are evacuated to a safe place at the earliest,” Velankar said.

Soon, Internet and telephone lines might be affected because of the Russian military operation and parents would no longer be able to contact their children in Ukraine, he feared.

The Indian Medical Association has written to the Prime Minister, appealing to him to bring back the students from Ukraine.

Shariqul Islam, an MBBS student at Kyiv Medica, said that while other countries had made it strictly clear to their people in Ukraine to leave by February 14, no such advice came from the Indian embassy.

“On February 15, our embassy gave us a vague notice about essential and non-essential stay. Then they created panic by releasing information on February 18 that everyone must leave the country. How can people leave in such a short span of time?” he asked.

Shariqul said he and many of his friends had tried to book tickets but airlines cancelled flights. The ticket prices of repatriation flights were prohibitively high.

“Air India was charging Rs 60,000 for a ticket. How can evacuation cost so much? It’s insane. This is not a rescue mission by India, this is simply business. We are students, we can’t afford such a high price,” he said.

Shariqul said he had heard eight explosions in his neighbourhood since Thursday.

“I am extremely disturbed and mentally shattered. I called the embassy but received no help. Now we are on our own. This wouldn’t have happened had they told us to leave earlier. When my foreign friends were leaving the country, our embassy was fast asleep,” Shariqul said, adding that his parents in Meerut were worried.

Prof. M.M. Salunkhe, former vice-chancellor of Rajasthan Central University, said Ukraine had very good education and communication infrastructure that was also cheaper than in many other countries.

“The teaching system in Ukraine is comparable with that in India. The atmosphere is good. Except for what is happening now, it is a peaceful and enjoyable country. Education is less expensive. So students are getting attracted,” he said.

Salunkhe said students mainly went to Ukraine to study medicine. In India, the number of medical seats is much less than the demand. For MBBS, 15 lakh students take the NEET entrance exam every year for less than 90,000 seats.

Dr Nazeerul Ameen, a medical graduate from Russia and president of the All India Foreign Medical Graduate Association, said the high fees charged by private medical colleges in India was another reason why students were exploring foreign destinations.

“In Ukraine or Russia, a student can complete MBBS by spending less than Rs 40 lakh, including a tuition fee of Rs 30 lakh. In a private medical college here, the fee for the same course can be as high as Rs 1.5 crore. A middle class family cannot afford such expenditure. So they go to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, China and other countries,” he said.

Ameen, who practises in Chennai, said Indian students began travelling to Russia in the 1960s. In India, there are over two lakh medical graduates from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Aousaf Hussian, another MBBS student at Kharkiv National Medical University, described the situation in Kharkiv as “alarming”.

His sister in Kerala said Aousaf and his friends had to take shelter in a Metro station. They have only had some snacks and water. When they tried to return home, they heard the sound of sirens and went back to the underground station for cover.

Evacuation

The government on Friday decided to bear the cost of evacuating Indian nationals from Ukraine and has organised evacuation flights from Hungary and Romania that border the western part of the country under siege. An estimated 15,000 Indian students are stranded in Ukraine and the first batch of 470 is expected to exit the country and enter Romania through the Porubne-Siret border later on Friday.