Thousands of Indian students studying in various universities across Ukraine found themselves stranded on February 24 as the country closed its airspace after it was attacked by Russia. These students were at crossroads as neither the Indian embassy nor their universities gave them clear directions on whether they should leave or stay.
The first Indian advisory that was issued on February 15 did not reflect the gravity of the impending war and only asked people who had non-essential reasons to stay within the country to leave temporarily. They even asked Indian nationals to inform their whereabouts to the Embassy so that the officials could reach out to students.
Before this advisory was issued, Anjali Kumar, a third-year medicine student at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, had just arrived in the country. "I decided to return when the embassy first released a statement in January," Anjali told BOOM.
The Indian Embassy floated a google form on January 25 asking Indian citizens to fill it. They said that they were monitoring the increasing tension between Russia and Ukraine. Even then, it did not issue any statement whether students should decide to start leaving.
"My university was uncertain if classes would be held online or offline. I decided to come back home as the last semester was held online. I knew the previous record of the college, I presumed it would be online, so I left, " Anjali said. Meanwhile, her classmates finally managed to reach the Poland and Romania borders on Thursday.
Like Anjali, third-year-medical student Maithili Gulhane also decided to come home. She, however, waited till the February 15 advisory. She said she was 'fortunate' to book a ticket for ₹32,000 when the prices were increasing. Maithili had rescheduled her February 3 flight to February 19.
"I flew home at the risk of losing a year as the third year is when we have to take the crucial KROK examinations. I am a student in Bukovinian State Medical University and one of the board members who is Indian heads things there. He asked us to stay calm and not panic as he said he was in touch with the Embassy. The university, however, did not put out any notices. My family was concerned so I thought it was best to leave," Gulhane told BOOM.
But Anjali and Maithili were only the lucky few. Over 16,000 students have not been so fortunate. They blame their universities along with the delayed directives by the Indian embassy for it.
When the news of stranded Indian students came in as the Russian forced moved closer to the Ukraine capital, social media got filled with messages that blamed the students for not leaving Ukraine. BOOM asked students why they couldn't leave the country at the signs of war.
"We could not leave college as we could be expelled"
In its second advisory on February 20, the embassy asked all students and those Indian nationals whose stay was not deemed official, to leave. On February 21, it shared that evacuation was being planned for students.
However, students were worried that they would have to skip a year if they went back home. Rashid Rizwan, a 23-year-old student from Ivano Frankvisk National Medical University, who returned to India on February 28 told BOOM.
"There is a rule in Ukraine that if you miss a certain number of classes, we will not be allowed to give the exam and then be expelled from the University. We waited for classes to go online and then were waiting for a definite date," Rizwan said.
On February 22, the Indian embassy issued another advisory saying it was in talks with the various universities to figure out the switch to online education and then asked Indian students to leave.
The previous day, on February 21, along with asking the students to start booking commercial flights out of Ukraine and also arranged three flights beginning February 25 along with the flights on February 20, 22, and 24. The tickets became very expensive in the interim and the students were still struggling with the university authorities.
"We had to approach our dean on February 22. Only then they agreed to start online classes the next day. By then, tickets were very expensive or already booked," Rizwan added.
"University Continued To Be Offline, Gave Exam on February 22"
For students studying in the eastern towns of Kharkiv and Sumy, closer to the Russian border and which have witnessed a spate of attacks, reaching international borders is not an easy challenge.
While the Indian embassy asked students to leave Kharkiv and reach three surrounding villages by foot or by train, there has been no concrete help for students stranded in Sumy.
Ashwin Choudhary, a student in Kharkiv managed to take a train and move towards the Polish border and their bus waited for over 14 hours to cross the Budormiez border where the Indian embassy advised them to move.
Sumy which is 40 kms from Russia is currently housing close to 750 students.
BOOM spoke to two students about their university's reaction to the ongoing tension between the two nations.
"Our classes were offline till February 24. We appeared for an exam on February 22. Even though there was bombing at night, the University asked us not to panic and said that we were going to be safe. They insisted that all of this is just a threat," Swati Sharma, final year medical student at Sumy State University told BOOM.
Echoing Swati's thoughts, Mohit Solanki, another final year student, said that the University was only asking them to be safe and stay protected.
"They kept classes offline till February 24. If the Indian embassy would have insisted that all students should leave on February 15, we would have done something. They shared that only on February 20, when there were not enough flights or they were expensive."
"We have no clue what happens to our degrees. We finish our academic years in a few months," Mohit added.
"Dean Did Not Want Us To Leave"
22-year-old Arjun Biswas, a fourth-year student at Lviv National medical college, was working on a small research project in a local village hospital before the evacuation plans began. He decided to hire a vehicle to take him to the Hungarian border as he had his pet dog with him.
The Indian government has directives for students travelling with pets. The animals need to be vaccinated.
"I really did not want to leave Ukraine and wanted to finish my education. Our university is helpless in protecting the students. Our dean did not want students to leave," Biswas told BOOM.
Biswas borrowed money to hire the vehicle as he does not have access to his bank accounts. His classes were conducted online. "University stayed quiet about it. We had to find our own ways," Biswas added.