Punjab natives stuck in Ukraine say sounds of blasts, low-flying planes kept them up in bunkers

Twenty-three-year-old Khushwinder Kaur had a nerve-wracking night. Cooped up in an underground metro station with hundreds of others, the Faridkot native who is a fifth-year MBBS student at Kharkiv National Medical University, couldn’t sleep. The sounds of explosions and low-flying aircraft kept her up.

“As we had left in a hurry, we could not pack any food and the place was very cold. We were allowed to go back to our apartments around 7am as the bombardment stopped. But we were instructed to return as soon as possible,” she said.

Khushwinder and her friend rushed to their apartment, took a quick shower, packed some clothes and groceries and returned to the bunker in about an hour. “There was panic all around. Everyone was making a dash for grocery stores and ATMs. If the situation does not improve, we will run out of water and grocery supplies. We hope the Indian government comes to rescue us soon,” she said.

Khushwinder’s father, Sarabjeet Singh Brar, said, “She is giving us hour-to-hour updates over the phone. When we last spoke to her, she told us there were reports of Russian forces capturing power stations. If the reports are true, there may be a power outage. She is anyways facing difficulty in charging her phone as there are many other students at the metro station.”

Brar added that he has been continuously trying to contact the Indian Embassy but their lines are busy.

Meanwhile, Manjinder Kaur, a fifth year MBBS student at Kharkiv National Medical University, who hails from Mansa, told her parents back home that food and water supplies are drying up. The prices of water have shot up almost five times.

Manjinder’s father Gurtej Singh, along with a group of parents, submitted a representation to Mansa deputy commissioner with an appeal for safe evacuation of their wards.

Gurtej Singh said, “Our children are moving in small groups. They have taken shelter in underground metro stations or hostel basements. We are in touch with Manjinder.”

Muktsar deputy commissioner Harpreet Sudan confirmed that a group of parents submitted a collective representation with details of 16 students from the district who are stuck in the war-torn country.

Desperate attempts to escape to safety

Nineteen-year-old Harshdeep Singh and his elder sister Palakpreet Kaur had a plan to reach Hungary border from Vinnytsia in the war-torn Ukraine, on Friday afternoon (IST). But a series of alerts about possible airstrikes by Russian forced them to retreat.

Natives of Talwandi Sabo town of Bathinda district, the siblings had gone to Ukraine in September 2020 after securing admission in National Pirogov Memorial Medical University.

As news of the Russian invasion broke out, their worried father, Gurjinder Singh, contacted their education visa consultant and arranged for the siblings to be taken to the Hungary border, located nearly 500-km from Vinnytsia.

Now taking shelter at a local train station, Harshdeep said, “An agent of the Indian consultant asked us to gather at a local train station. On reaching there, the agent expressed his inability to move us out. For the last over 36-hours, we have been getting constant airstrike alerts. Yesterday, we heard a loud explosion in the city’s vicinity. We learned that the Russian army has reached the outskirts of the city.”

The 19-year-old added that the Indian embassy had alerted the students about 13 days ago but no one took it seriously. “We didn’t expect the tensions to escalate into a full-blown war. On top of it, our college administration had made it mandatory to attend offline classes. We had no option but to stay back, as 100% attendance is mandatory,” he said while adding that there are over 1,500 students in Vinnytsia institute.

Clearly disgruntled, Harshdeep said, “Soon after the Russian invasion began, the college closed down, leaving the students to fend for themselves.”

The Indian embassy has formed messaging groups of students on WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber for regular updates on evacuation plans and other initiatives, he added.