Several students from Odisha are now stranded in different cities of Ukraine which is now in the grip of a war following an invasion by Russia. Though the students are safe at present, they are nevertheless, in a state of panic following the closure of Ukrainian airspace which has delayed their evacuation.
Narrating the ordeal, Barsharani Dalai, a student from Odisha who finds herself stranded in Ukraine, said that the situation at present is normal. “Today, we woke up to the sound of shelling and blasts. We are naturally in a state of panic. Since morning, we were told to hoard ration and take out cash,” said Dalai.
Dalai said she went to Ukraine for her studies in December 6, 2021. Her classes were going on smoothly in the past few months. “We are now acting as per the information shared to us by the Indian Embassy and other official sources for updates. We are safe at the moment and nobody knows what will be the situation in the coming days. We are now holding up in hostels and whenever India government starts evacuation, we will follow the instructions,” she added.
Not only Dalai, it is also a testing time for the family members of Suprit Swain, a student from Odisha who is now stranded at Vinnytsia city in Ukraine. Video call is now the only source of communication over which Suprit’s family is able to keep touch with him.
Suprit had enrolled himself in MBBS course at Vinnytsia National University three months ago. Nobody had ever thought that the situation in the eastern European country would turn bad and worse.
“We have been told that the students there have been asked to remain prepared and their evacuation may begin any moment. We are hopeful that my son would return to India soon,” said Suprit’s mother at her house in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district.
Sunyasatta Satpathy, another stranded student from Odisha said, “At 5.30 am we received a call informing about the war. We were immediately asked to move to the nearest bunker or metro for safety.”
Satpathy said sometime back the Indian Embassy urged those stranded to remain at the places where they are staying now. “I had a flight today and it was cancelled following the unfortunate incident. We urge Prime Minister to evacuate us at the earliest,” she added.