We are traumatised; Indian embassy officials not reachable, says student from Ukraine’s Sumy

Niranjana Santosh, a medical student from Thrissur in Kerala, said no officials had reached out to her or her friends. Nor are Indian embassy officials reachable on the phone, she said. “We have been calling several numbers listed on the Facebook page and checking updates from India, but there has been no response. Over the last eight days there has been bombing. There is no way we can step out. We are mentally traumatised. We just want to go home,” she said.

Said Shruti Tyagi, a 20-year-old third-year medical student from Haryana’s Panipat, “At least thrice a day we run to our bunkers—the basement of our hostel—upon hearing the sirens. There is no peace and we are so physically and mentally tired.”

The students are relieved that the war has not affected communication channels yet. “We are keeping ourselves busy but our parents and relatives back home are really worried. The good thing is that we are getting mobile signals and can connect with them in India,” said R Manisha, a fifth-year student from Kollam in Kerala.

Fifth-year medical student Mariyah Dummasiya, a resident of Sumy, said that they had not been able to leave the premises for eight days. “There have been good Samaritans, though. Volunteers sent by Kusum pharmaceuticals—an Indian company in Ukraine—are taking care of our basic needs,” she added.

Kusum volunteers are supplying food and other essentials to students, said Vikas Jawale, who has been working with the company in Sumy for ten years. He told The Indian Express there were 600-700 students stranded in the city. “They are at the university’s hostel and extremely frightened. We have been talking to them and hopefully we are able to evacuate them from the Russian side. We are located on the northeastern side of Ukraine and close to the Russian border,” Jawale said.

In Romania 45-year-old N Abraham is engaged in helping students who have crossed over from Ukraine. Abraham, an architect and a resident in that country, said that several communities had come together to help students. “There are WhatsApp groups, Telegram groups, Facebook groups, and people are connecting via these platforms to seek assistance. Local community groups have been helping students,” he said.