No food, water: Over 600 students stranded in Ukraine city cry for help

Even as the Indian government has successfully evacuated thousands of citizens from war-torn Ukraine, over 600 students from the country stuck in the northeastern city of Sumy are crying for help. A student asserted that hope they will soon be evacuated as "continuous firing and bombing" by the Russian forces has left them completely terrified. They also complain of an acute shortage of food and water. 

Considering Sumy lies in the northeastern peninsula of Ukraine, it is difficult for the students to travel to the western border, from where they can reach neighbouring Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova, under the current circumstances. 

Not a single Indian student has been evacuated from the Sumy State University, located close to the Russian border has been evacuated. "More than 600 Indian students are stuck here in Sumy university. The embassy has neither evacuated us nor given any assurance to that effect. Since the last five days, there has been continuous firing, shelling and bombing in the city," Viraj Walde, who hails from Nagpur in Maharashtra, told news agency PTI. 

"Before Russia's invasion of Ukratine, temporary advisories were given to the students and the university informed us that those having exams can wait. Hence, we waited for the exams to start," Walde added. 

"But now, the students are terrified and their mental state is deteriorating. Food and drinking water supplies are depleting. Even the banks and ATMs are running out of cash," he said. 

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy has sent advisories asking them to use only the western border of Ukraine and reach the neighbouring countries of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova. Since Sumy city is located in the north-eastern part of Ukraine, it is impossible for them to travel all the way to the western part of the country amidst the current situation

"The border in Ukraine's western part is located almost 1,500 kms away from Sumy, whereas the Russian border is just 50 kms away. The railway station in Sumy has also been closed due to bombing, and traveling via road is like committing suicide since Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting against each other at such places," he told PTI. 

Meanwhile, in the first Indian casualty in the war,  a medical student from Karnataka's Haveri district was killed in intense shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday.