Endless walk for hours, freezing night, hypothermia: Indian students stranded at Poland border describe ordeal

Speaking to The Indian Express over phone, Ashok, a fourth year student of Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, said that all he can see is thousands of people, including Ukranians, trying to cross over to Poland.

“We started around 4 pm yesterday (Friday) from Ternopil in a bus and reached Lviv. The bus was stopped midway and from there we just kept walking. It is freezing here and we walked more than 40 kilometres to reach the Polish border. We spent the night out in the cold, without a roof on our heads and standing on the roads. It was minus five degrees Celsius here at night when we were out on the roads. It has been more than 15 hours now but Indians are not being allowed to cross over,” said Ashok who hails from Rajasthan.

“There is no food.. we are surviving on munchies, and wafers. Phone batteries are running out and the officials whose numbers have been given on the Embassy advisory are not responding,” he said.

Ashok said that at least 300 students from his university were stranded with him at the Polish border and there were several others from other universities too. “It is difficult to count because it’s all so chaotic here,” he said.

Students stranded at Poland border.

Nikhil Kumar, another student from Lviv, said: “Yesterday, we got a message that students can come to the Polish border for evacuation via Poland. We arranged a cab from our hostel and left. After some kilometers, we hit a long traffic jam and the cab driver told us to get down. We then started walking for 25-30 kms and reached the border. And here at the border, we are standing in a queue for over 10 hours. There is just one van which is ferrying 8-10 persons a time to the other side. Only Ukrainians are being ferried for now. We have been standing here for over 10 hours. Students have now started getting Hypothermia.”

In its latest advisory, the Embassy of India (Warsaw) had said that Indians in Ukraine who desire to be evacuated via Poland, should reach Shehyni-Medyka border crossing if coming by bus, taxi or on foot. For those coming in their own vehicles, they should head to Krakowiec border.

The news of students getting stranded at the Polish border now has also prompted others stuck inside Ukraine to stay put till late Saturday evening and await more clarity on the situation. Students said they would rather stay inside their hostels and apartments till further clarification from the Embassy. “I called on the number given by the Embassy and the official who picked the phone said that we should wait and stay wherever we were. They are still making arrangements to pick up students from the Polish border. Also, even after entering the Polish side, we might have to walk for some kilometers before knowing what lies ahead. It’s all uncertain right now so we are still waiting for more clarification,” said a second-year postgraduate student from Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, who hails from Hoshiarpur.

A student from Lviv, who along with his friends are hiding in their apartment’s basement, told The Indian Express, “As soon as we hear sirens, we rush to the basement of our apartment for shelter. There is no help for us at the Polish border. No one responds to our calls. We hear sirens often. Maybe the planes are coming. Please ask the Indian government to help us. It’s madness here.”