"I Am Stuck, Please Help Us": Stranded Indian Student Refuses To Leave Ukraine Without Pet Dog

After a medical student from Haryana refused to leave Ukraine as he wanted to take care of his landlord's children while he will be fighting the Russians, another Indian student has refused to leave war-hit Ukraine.

The third-year engineering student who is stranded in Ukraine has refused to leave the country without his pet dog even as authorities have reached out to him, offering assistance and subsequent, evacuation.

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"How can I have an air ticket"

Rishabh Kaushik, who studies at the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics in east Ukraine, claims he has been trying to get all paperwork and clearances done so that his dog can accompany him when he gets airlifted. But he alleges that officials "keep asking for more and more documents".

"They are asking for my air ticket. How can I have an air ticket when the Ukrainian airspace is closed?" he said.

¡°But I just could not get the approvals. I decided then that if my dog can¡¯t leave, I won¡¯t either. I know that there is risk in staying on but I can¡¯t just abandon him. Who will take care of him if I go?" he said.

He reached out to India authorities, IGI

Kaushik says he reached out to the Indian government's Animal Quarantine and Certification Service (AQCS) in Delhi and also the Indian embassy in Ukraine but to no avail.

In a video uploaded on social media, he also claims that he called someone at Delhi's IGI airport regarding his situation but the person on the other end hurled abuses at him and did not cooperate.

Rishabh Kaushik, who is currently hiding in a bunker in capital Kyiv, ¡°I would have been in India right now had the Indian government given me the required NOC (no objection certificate) as per the laws.¡±

He had got ¡®Malibu¡¯, the rescue puppy, in February 2021 in Kharkiv. He appealed to the Indian government for help and said he didn¡¯t have any updates from anyone.

"Stuck here"

"I am stuck here since my flight was on February 27," he said. Introducing the puppy in the video frame, he said the animal is stressed out and "crying all the time" because of the sounds of constant bombing.

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"If you can, please help us. Even the Indian embassy in Kyiv is not helping us out. We don't have updates from anyone," he said in an appeal to the Indian government.

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