We're Left Behind, Say Indian Students In Sumy; Evacuation Continues From Other Ukraine Cities
Unlike other Ukrainian cities from where thousands of Indian students have been brought to safety through neighboring countries, no evacuation has been carried out in Sumy.
Hundreds of Indian students who are suck in the Ukrainian city of Sumy in the country's northeast, close to the border of Russia have appealed for their immediate evacuation amid increased shelling there.
Unlike other Ukrainian cities from where thousands of Indian students have been brought to safety through neighboring countries, no evacuation has been carried out in Sumy.
Photo shared by students
According to those stranded in Sumy, there are 700-800 Indians in the city, mostly medical students of Sumy State University.
??emergency??
¡ª Ukraine Live ???? (@_noname_007) March 4, 2022
Is there a Ukrainian citizen who is near Sumy State University? needed help? Some Indian children are stuck there, help them with food and water? Or can someone help them out??@KremlinRussia_E @POTUS @ZelenskyyUa pic.twitter.com/i3mxb2gqg4
Students share ordeal
One of them, Mahek Shaikh, shared an eight-second video clip on Thursday of what appeared to be a blast in the town.
"Complete city blackout, no electricity and water supply and multiple bomb blasts nearby. Slow network," she wrote in the post.
Another medical student, Radhika Sangwan, said 700-800 students are stranded in Sumy, and there was no confirmed news on their evacuation.
"I am a student in Sumy, Ukraine. YES WE EXIST!!! There are 700-800 students in Sumy. It's the 7th day of attack and there is no confirmed news on our evacuation. Stress , fear and anxiety are getting to us. Hope is lost. Please help," Sangwan tweeted on Thursday.
Photo shared by students
Holed up in a bunker, three visibly-distressed medical students shared a video on social media in which they pleaded for evacuation, saying they are running out of food and the security situation is worsening.
We are told we are warriors, we are consolidated by saying we are brave, but when we will be told that finally we are evacuating.. Please help us we are running out of helps.. #sumy #Sumyevacuation @opganga @MEAIndia @PMOIndia @CNN @BBCWorld @timesofindia @IndiainUkraine pic.twitter.com/HzLoI61q0Q
¡ª Shivangi shibu (@IndShivangi) March 4, 2022
"There is no electricity. We are running out of water. There was a huge explosion that is why we ran into the bunker. Please evacuate us," one of them said.
In another video shared tweeted by Shaikh on Thursday, several armed men were seen roaming outside their hostel.
Spoke to Stranded Indian studnts in Sumy state #Ukraine.Huge explosion near studnts hostel, Everyone is frightened, anxious. No availability of Light. Studnts took ice frm outside hostel & now melting it for drinking, as there is no water available.
¡ª Repeeatuu (@repeeatuu) March 4, 2022
pic.twitter.com/JPOHidB5oy
"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.
#Update: Just in - Reports says that a Russin airstrike,bombed a coal based Electrical and heat produced power plant, in the town of #Okhtyrka, Ukraine, just 65KM from the Ukrainian city of #Sumy what is till now not in the hands of the Russians #UkraineWar #RussianUkrainianWar pic.twitter.com/cXve0svmLw
¡ª journalist Rohtash Malethia (@Rohtashmalethi1) March 4, 2022
Today's the 9th day since the war broke out. Since yesterday after this blast there is no water. If we're not evacuated in a day two I don't know if we'll survive or not. We're around 600 Indian students in Sumy. Please help @IndiainUkraine @MEAIndia @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar pic.twitter.com/uvzfwdB8Qu
¡ª Jakaria A. R Hussain (@jak_ar_hussain) March 4, 2022
On Sunday, the Indian embassy in Ukraine said intense fighting was underway in Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv, and urged Indians in these cities and wherever curfew has been applied to not venture towards railway stations until such curbs are lifted and considerable civilian movement is renewed.
According to Russian News Agency TASS, National Defense Control Center head Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev announced on Thursday that 130 Russian buses are ready to evacuate Indian students and other foreigners from Ukraine¡¯s Kharkiv and Sumy to Russia¡¯s Belgorod Region.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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