Visakhapatanam: The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday started its first evacuation measures with support of Russia at the high-risk war zone Kharkiv.
Though it brought much relief among the parents and their kin who were able to leave the city by the deadline of 6pm there as put by the embassy, many Indians were left helpless in Kharkiv to meet the deadline.
They faced problems of improper communication, failure to catch trains on time, defunct communication network including the phones, the students in touch with Deccan Chronicle said over Whatsapp calls and messages.
Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov’s said on Wednesday that his country is creating a corridor for secure passage of those returning to India. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine issued an advisory in the afternoon, urging all the Indians at Kharkiv to immediately vacate the place by 6pm.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle from Kharkiv, KNMU student Prasad Nampally said, “We see the shelling of paratroops everywhere in Kharkiv. We may miss many. I left my pet dog Tyson. I left it with a heavy heart outside of the train while I am boarding it, which was the last train of the day.”
Srinivas, the father of an MBBS girl student at Kharkiv National Medical University, said the family waited for this day since the beginning of the war on February 24.
“We have no sleep and food here like my daughter at Kharkiv. A friend’s son reached home from Ukraine by special flights because he was from a non-risk part of Ukraine. Kharkiv’s position was different. There was non-stop bombardment for the past four days and the Indian government’s help did not reach her till Tuesday,” Srinivas told DC.
TeamSOSIndia, a Telegram group played an effective role in communicating with every Indian struck in Kharkiv and in helping them out of the city within the deadline of 6pm Ukraine time, as was set by the embassy.
The government suggested Indians at Kharkiv to reach nearby Pesochin, Babaye, or Bezlyudovka, which were less than 12 km towards the Russian border from Kharkiv.
