’Please help us’: Indian student refuses to leave Ukraine without pet dog

Even though the government claims it's doing everything to help the Indian diaspora, especially students stranded in war-torn Ukraine, a third-year engineering student, who refused to leave the country without his pet, has alleged that neither the Indian embassy in Ukraine nor immigration officials in India have helped him in getting out of the country with his dog.

Rishabh Kaushik, a student of third-year engineering at Kharkiv National University, said he's trying to get in contact with the Indian embassy since February 18, and had contacted AQCS (Animal Quarantine and Certification Service) in Delhi, and sent his passport details and that of his dog. He said they "still keep asking for more".

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"Yesterday I emailed them that war has actually started, and if by chance I get a chance to get airlifted, can I get documents then, he (immigration official) still asks for some more certificates knowing well that Ukraine is in midst of war," the student alleged.

Talking about the overall situation in Kyiv, Kaushik said nothing is operational in Kyiv right now. "Normal food stores, supply chains are running out of water or food. Nothing is there. People are taking them to the bunkers," he said.

Kaushik said like everyone in Kyiv, he was also hiding in a bunker. "I tried to contact Indian Embassy here in Kyiv as well. The only they could actually say was we can't help with anything, and that I should contact AQCS centre," he said.

As per Kaushik when he called at IGI Airport in Delhi, an official who spoke with him was "quite rude" to him. "The only thing he could say was just abuses and all the ways he can't help me".

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He also said the Indian embassy in Ukraine is not even picking up phones. "I would have been in India right now if the Indian government had given me the NOC (no objection certificate) as per their laws.

He said he had bought the dog, who was rescued, two years back. He also alleged that despite showing necessary documents and assuring he would quarantine him in India, authorities did not support him, except asking for "more documents".

"Even today, we all woke up to bombings in Kyiv. Even my dog is stressed about all the bombings happening around," he said, requesting the Indian government to help him evacuate his dog as well.