Several Indian students stranded in shelters in wartime Kyiv embarked on an independent expedition on foot towards the Romanian border, a day after hundreds of them battled food shortages and a lack of clear direction from the Indian embassy regarding transportation out of Ukraine.

Indian students stranded in Kyiv had earlier told The Telegraph that the embassy had directed them to make their way to Romania or Hungary where evacuation flights would await them, but had failed to instruct them on how to reach those destinations.

The students who decided to leave the shelter on Friday are reportedly walking into “imminent” food shortages.

For the past three days, approximately 400 Indian students, including a few from Bengal, had been staying in a school building designated as a safe home by the Indian embassy in Kyiv.

After a reported increase in bombing on Friday night, “half of them" decided to take matters into their own hands early on Saturday.

“I am in a fix now. After news of the first flight for India from Romania reached our shelter, around 150 students promptly started their journey towards the Ukraine-Romania border at much peril. A few others and I are in a fix as to whether we should follow suit as the journey is completely uncertain,” said Bibhas Haldar, a management student from East Burdwan’s Kalna.

The first evacuation flight from India departed from Bucharest, the capital of Romania, on Saturday afternoon with 219 students on board. The flight is bound for Mumbai.

Students at the Kyiv shelter said this news caused “restlessness” among many. The distance from Kyiv to the Romanian border checkpoint is approximately 600km and most students who had made the journey by Friday had reportedly used either the metro service or private cabs.

“All those who left today said that we would be evacuated and reach our country once we reached the Romania border,” said a student from South 24-Parganas, who spent Friday night in a bunker.

This rush towards the borders of Ukraine has reportedly led the Indian embassy to issue an advisory for students and Indian nationals.

“All Indian citizens in Ukraine are advised to not move to any of the border posts without prior coordination with Government of India officials at the border posts (helpline numbers established) and emergency numbers of Embassy of India, Kyiv,” the advisory reads.

The advisory also warned students and Indian nationals that the situation at various border checkpoints was sensitive.

“Please note, staying in western cities of Ukraine with access to water, food, accommodation and basic amenities is relatively safer and advisable compared to reaching border checkpoints without being fully abreast of the situation,” the advisory added.

Other students said life in the shelter was “uncertain and unhappy”.

“We are getting lunch and dinner from the embassy but it is not sufficient. They are providing only rice and pulses for lunch and rice and soyabean for dinner. Sometimes, the food supplied for six students is not enough for even one,” said a student in the shelter.

“We want to go home as soon as possible because we can’t survive here. We can’t buy food as we can’t withdraw money from ATMs here,” said Raj Kumar, a medical student from Odisha, stuck in a school for the past three days.

“Despite many of our friends deciding to move towards the border, we did not follow them. I think it might bring another crisis for us and we would be completely helpless if something happened on our way. So, we chose to stay here in a shelter with minimal food,” Raj Kumar added.