Indian nationals, evacuated from war-torn Ukraine
For Meghna Trivedi, what was dream come true - getting a chance to study medicine at the prestigious Vinnytsia National National Purogov Memorial Medical University of Ukraine - turned into a nightmare as Russia invaded the smaller European nation. The fourth-year MBBS student from South Tripura's Belonia subdivision along with two fellow students also hailing from Tripura, landed at MBB Airport from Romania via Delhi safely on Thursday. The journey from Vinnytsia in Ukraine was a long and harrowing one for Meghna and two fellow students from the northeastern state of Tripura.
“I never imagined I would have such a horrible experiences in Ukraine - missiles landing in streets, Army movement and (wounded) people screaming”, she said.
Meghna, said things were good till Russian troops invaded Ukraine. "As the situation worsened with constant bombings, we were forced to shelter in bunkers on February 24," she recounted.
The daily essentials which they had with them started depleting rapidly. "On the following day, some of Indian students took a decision to cross the border and enter Romania by any means” Meghna said.
“The toughest time in my life was when we had to walk a 10- km stretch under hostile conditions to reach Romania crossing through war-hit Ukraine," the young medical student recounted.
"In Romania, we were offered a pleasant welcome and we stayed there for three days. The Indian embassy and local authority did their best to serve our needs as much as possible”, said Jasmine Debabrma, Meghna's collegemate, who is among the three students from Tripura who returned from Romania via Delhi.
Narrating her war-experiences in Ukraine, Jasmine said, “Life in a bunker in Ukraine was miserable. Each building in the war ravaged country has bunkers, which was unknown to us till the war broke out. Every bunker has facilities to accommodate between 150 to 300 people."
Ukraine along with many other Russian provinces had built bunkers during the Soviet era when the cold war between the two super-powers - USSR and USA - had sparked fears of another global war.
She described Ukrainians "as very polite and gentle."
“I wanted to study medicine abroad. Finally I got a chance in Ukraine. Now, I am not sure if I will be able to complete MBBS course there or not”, Jasmine, a resident of Abhoynagar in Agartala said.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb who welcomed the students back to their home state, lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for speedy evacuation of Indian students stuck in trouble-torn Ukraine.
“We don't have exact number of students belonging to the state stuck in Ukraine due to the war. I hope the Central government will take all possible steps to ensure safe return of our students at the earliest”, he said.
