Berhampur: D. Adarsh Kumar Patra, a third-year medical student who was able to leave Ukraine a day before the invasion by Russia, said that the students there are forced to restrict food consumption.
Indian students in Ukraine have stocked food items but are forced to restrict their consumption as the prices have increased by tenfold, said Patra, a resident of Berhampur in Ganjam district of Odisha, who was pursuing MBBS at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
Sharing his ordeal with Ommcom News, Patra informed the situation was tense for the last one month as Russian troops were gathering on Ukraine’s borders. Though their parents were concerned, he and his friends had been assuring them that the situation is under control.
After knowing that the situation is going to worsen, Patra and his friends tried booking their return tickets to India. Hopefully, they got the tickets for February 23 from Kyiv in Ukraine to Doha in Qatar.
They got on a bus at around 12 AM on February 22 to leave from Kharkiv to Kyiv to catch the flight. They were scared that something might happen on the way as the distance between Kharkiv to Kyiv is around 500 kilometres.
They safely reached Kyiv and caught the flight to Doha at around 4 PM on February 23. After reaching Doha Patra came to know about the invasion. From Doha, the students caught a flight to Mumbai and he finally reached Odisha on Friday.
Patra said that the Embassy of India in Kyiv had been supporting the students there. It had said that it will be giving regular updates and asked all Indians to follow its page and stick to the instructions.
He said that each and every hour is critical in Ukraine. Civilians including Indians are stranded in bunkers in between firing and bombing.
“I know the difficulties my friends are facing there and how helpless they are feeling. Their parents are waiting here for their return. It is a humble request to the Government of India to rescue our students from Ukraine,” said Patra.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced to bear the expenses for the return of Odias stuck in Ukraine. The Indian Government should consider the request of the Chief Minister, he added.
