Indian nationals, mostly students, who were evacuated from war-hit Ukraine, heaved a sigh of relief as an Air India flight carrying them landed at the airport here in the early hours of Sunday.
Suriya Subhash from Maharashtra’s Solapur, who was among the 250 Indian citizens brought back on the flight from Romanian capital Bucharest, said she was relieved to be back in her country after a “hectic journey”.“The situation is very bad there (Ukraine). People are stranded,” she said.Many students, who were brought back to India, were worried about their future education prospects due to the Russia offensive in Ukraine.Vipin Ad, a fifth-year MBBS student at the Bukovinian State Medical University, told PTI that he and his friends had to wait for approximately 12 hours at the Ukraine-Romania border on Friday as there were various procedures to complete.
Ad, who is from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, said he had to walk around 5 km along the border area as there was a massive traffic jam with people rushing out from the country.He said the university has announced a two-week holiday for students, after which only online classes will be held and expressed hope that he will be able to complete his final year on time.The returnees belonged to different states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.They thanked the Indian government for evacuating them and saving their lives.
“The situation is not good in Ukraine. We are worried about our studies. But it is good to be back. I thank the government for bringing us back,” said Susmita Rathore, a first year medical student.Aishwarya Pathak, a first year student of MBBS at the Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi, said that she and her classmates crossed the Ukraine-Romania border on Saturday night.
