Vishakhapatanam: The death of Karnataka native Naveen Shekharappa, a Kharkiv national medical university (KNMU) student in Ukraine in an airstrike by Russian troops has added to the worries of the parents whose children are stuck in the war-hit nation.
Parents and friends started making Whatsapp calls to their kin in Kharkiv and elsewhere soon after the news of the airstrike at 8 am Ukraine time reached here.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle from Kharkiv, Prasad Nampally, an MBBS student of the KNMU, said the airstrike happened 3km away from his location.
“The situation is horrible here. Naveen was our colleague at the college. I immediately put alert messages in my Whatsapp status `I am safe, Plz don't call me and don't watch media channels’ after receiving continuous phone calls from India,” Prasad said.
Another student of the university, Navya Shetty from Karnataka said that on Tuesday morning, most of the students came out to board trains to reach Lviv, collect food or draw money. Unfortunately, the civilians including the fellow Kannadiga was killed in the horrendous bomb attack, she said.
Student Amarnath said the Indians in the Sumy state in eastern Ukraine are waiting for evacuation. “Shellings and shootings are panicking the students here,” Amarnath said.
S.Mani said, “The bunkers here also not safe. They are more like basements. They would not protect us if another airstrike hits the building.”
Parent Satyanarayana from East Godavari said: “I heard the news about our government’s plans to send defense flights to rescue our children there. The government should act fast. My wife did not sleep for four days as my daughter Rishitha is stuck in Kharkiv.”
Responding to queries at Operation Ganga's Twitter handle, the India Embassy clarified that students evacuated from Ukraine need not worry about the visa requirements. “We want to assure all that no visa is required to exit Romania by special flights," said the Embassy at Romania.
