Guwahati, March 4: Despite all the efforts from the Indian Government, the students stranded in the eastern part of Ukraine are still under threat as they have to move towards the neighbouring countries in the West to board a flight.
Several videos have surfaced online wherein students are pleading for immediate help after a student from Karnataka lost his life in a missile attack in Kharkiv. Reportedly, General VK Singh informed that another student was wounded in firing while he was trying to escape in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, he was later taken back into the city and is in hospital.
The two incidents have left the stranded Indian students shocked who are now fearing for their life.
The Indian government has issued an advisory on Wednesday urging students to leave Kharkiv immediately and reach three settlements — Pisochyn, Bezlyudivka and Babai. However, several Indian students remain stuck in underground bomb shelters as fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces intensified and inched closer to their locations.
Kharkiv is located in the eastern region near Donbas which has been the cradle of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It takes over 10 kms by foot from Kharkiv to reach the settlements mentioned in the Indian embassy's advisory.
Meanwhile, some Indian students did show up, but they were allegedly not allowed to board trains in Kharkiv. The students from Karnataka stranded in the Kharkiv region have alleged that local Ukrainian authorities and the military are assaulting Indian students and pointing guns at them.
Another student from Sumy while narrating the situation there on social media stated that several armed men were seen roaming outside their hostel.
"Looking out of our room's window, another sighting of armed men going around our hostel is what we notice. It's unsafe to step out and the Indian Embassy wants us to catch trains and cross cities. Please evacuate us before the situation worsens," she wrote.
To evacuate citizens from war-hit Ukraine, the Indian government has initiated Operation Ganga. However, the evacuation from the eastern part of the country has been a cause of concern as heavy violence in underway.
A few days back a student from Assam, Nilam Kalita, while speaking to The Assam Tribune narrated the circumstances under which he has been surviving along with his friends in Sumy town. While they were holed up in their bunkers they were running out of food. He also informed that due to heavy shelling they were not able to move out and appealed the Indian government to speed up the evacuation process for the students stuck in the eastern region.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has been constantly in contact with the Ministry of External Affairs. As per his latest tweet, at least 85 students from Assam have been evacuated from the war-ravaged country.
The State govt has prepared a list of 212 students from Assam who would need to be evacuated. Special teams have been set up in the Assam Bhawans in Delhi and Mumbai for the safe arrivals of the students back home.
According to a Kremlin statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the urgent evacuation of Indian students trapped in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Russia said it is working on launching a "humanitarian corridor" for evacuation of Indian nationals stuck in eastern Ukraine.