Indian student: 'We are safe in Ukraine'

'The Indian government evacuated its citizens from the clutches of the Taliban and Covid-hit Wuhan, so I am not worried.'

Shubhanshu Bairagi, 20, an Indian student at the Zaporizhzhia State Medical University, checks the Indian embassy's Twitter account 'India in Ukraine' every 30 minutes.

He is not alone. Like him, his friend Gaurav Suresh from Bengaluru too does the same.

So do thousands of Indian students who are stuck in Ukraine not knowing if a war between Russia and Ukraine will break out.

"We have been told by the Indian embassy in Ukraine that this is the only authentic newsfeed that every Indian citizen in Ukraine has to follow. If we have to be evacuated from Ukraine, then we have to follow the Indian embassy's instructions," says Bairagi.

Bairagi, who hails from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, came to Ukraine just 75 days ago to pursue medicine at the Zaporizhzhia State Medical University. Today, he cannot believe that his life has suddenly turned topsy-turvy with the possibility of war between Russia and Ukraine.

Zaporizhzhia is located 500 km from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

"Nobody knows what is happening between Russia and Ukraine on the warfront. Most of the news that we are getting on social media is fake news. Worse, Indian television channels are spreading lies, thus making our parents a worried lot back home," says Gaurav Suresh.

"I tell my parents to stop watching the Indian news channels because they are not telling the truth about the ground situation between Ukraine and Russia," adds Bairagi.

The plight of Indian students in Ukraine was highlighted after Shankar Lalwani, the Lok Sabha member from Indore, urged the central government to bring back 25 students from Madhya Pradesh who studying in the country before a war broke out.

Lalwani, who said he was trying to help the students through the ministry of external affairs, also wrote to External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the matter.

"Many parents from my constituency have approached me. There are 60 students from Indore studying in Ukraine. I have requested the Indian government to increase the number of flights too so that airfares drop," Lalwani tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.

On Tuesday, February 15, the Indian embassy in Kyiv tweeted stating, 'In view of the uncertainties of the current situation in Ukraine, Indian nationals in Ukraine, particularly students whose stays is not essential, may consider leaving temporarily.'

The problem for the students is that the price of air tickets from Kyiv to New Delhi has almost doubled due to the sudden rush to leave. Plus, the students who have just arrived in Ukraine for their medical studies do not want to miss their term.

"I thought of going back to India but due to the increase in airfares I dropped my plan," says an Indian student, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Moreover, my medical classes have just begun, so how can I go back? My parents have put in their hard-earned money to send me to Ukraine to study."

"If you go around our city in Ukraine, you will not find an iota of feeling that a war is going to break out. When we talk to the common folk of Ukraine, they tell us that Russia makes these threats to their country routinely and there will be no war," says Bairagi.

Did he get worried when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a Facebook post that Russia would attack Ukraine on February 16? "That day I was tensed," concedes Bairagi. "And it was not me alone, but every Indian student because these were the words of the president of Ukraine, but nothing of that sort happened so my anxiety levels reduced."

Asked if he is worried about being stuck in Ukraine in case of war, Bairagi says, "The Indian government evacuated its citizens from the clutches of the Taliban and Covid-hit Wuhan, so I am not worried. I am confident India will evacuate all its citizens if war breaks out in Ukraine."

The Indian embassy in Ukraine has asked citizens to register themselves on the embassy Web site with their local phone number, place of residence and their Indian residential address and phone number so that if war breaks out, the embassy can be in touch with them or their family.

"Right now we are going to restaurants and markets regularly. We are safe here. I don't plan to move out of Ukraine unless and until war breaks out," says Gaurav Suresh.

"Yesterday (February 15) the people in Ukraine were happy because Russia was de-escalating its troops from the borders," says Bairagi. "This has brought a certain sense of relief in me and other Indian students."