Former Indian national rapid chess champion Anwesh Upadhyaya is one among several of his compatriots stuck in Ukraine, alone in his apartment and every bit scared. Upadhyaya, an International Master who serves as a resident doctor at a Kyiv hospital, is desperately hoping to be evacuated from the country which has been his home since 2012.

The 30-year old, who is doing apprenticeship in gastroenterology in the Ukraine capital, had planned to return to India in March. But with Russia launching military operations on Thursday, flights have been suspended and he is unsure of what is in store.

“Did not expect this intensification. It is a full-scale military invasion. Never imagined this,” the 2017 national rapid chess champion said.

Upadhyaya said he has seen turmoil in the country, recalling the student protests in 2013 against then President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to not sign an agreement that would have brought Ukraine closer to the European Union. But the turmoil then, he acknowledged, was nothing compared to the chaos of the last few days.

“I was present during the Revolution of Dignity (also known as the Maidan revolution) which was bad but not this scary,” Upadhyaya said. “My parents back home are worried and that’s why I had planned to leave in the first week of March,” he added about his family who are in Bhubaneswar.

“They have been calling me constantly, as have some of my school teachers. I am here in my apartment alone. The attack happened all of a sudden. So, couldn’t have done anything.”

Upadhyaya said he had tried to exit Ukraine earlier but could not get flight tickets, adding that he obtained permission from his bosses to leave once the tensions escalated.

He said he was now awaiting instructions from the Indian embassy in Ukraine. “Yes, I am hoping for this madness to end and awaiting instructions from our embassy,” Upadhyaya said.

Upadhyaya had managed to buy some essentials once the tensions began to rise. “I actually did manage to buy the essentials as the local news suggested a week ago. So with that I am good. I am more worried if the war comes into residential areas. There are always collateral damages,” he said.

He had last featured in an over the board event some two months ago in the city of Vinnytsia in the west-central part of Ukraine and finished on top. But the doctor, who has an Elo rating of 2352 (ranking points in chess), does not have his mind on the game now and only wants to get back to India. “I am hearing distant explosions,” he signed off, sitting in faraway Kyiv, hoping for better times.