Jharsuguda : Around 13 Odia medical students arrived at Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda on Friday, from War-Torn nation Ukraine. The parents who had come to receive them were overwhelmed to see their children back.
Ashutosh Mishra who is studying at Vinnytsia National Medical University is one among the 13 students who were back on Friday. He said “I am very happy to return back to my place, I want to thank our CM Naveen Pattnaik and the Indian Government for this. The struggle which we have faced in Ukraine is a nightmare, we were standing in queue for three days in cold temperatures and then they had taken us to a shelter in Romania. It was good that the Indian Government was able to land a flight to the nearest international airport so that we can return back. In Ukraine, lots of bombing, sirens sued to go off anytime and hearing the sirens hen we use to go inside the bunker situated under the building. As a bunker, we were using our ground basement of the university and the basement of an apartment where we were living. At Vinnytsia, we were getting food but when we reached near the border, we had to spend three days eating nothing. We were harassed at the Romanian border. However, there were few Ukrainian volunteers who were distributing food. But still, we were harassed at the border. We are happy that we have returned back but we are sad for our friends who are still at the Ukraine borders trying to cross. We want that they should be brought at the earliest, as they have been walking from Kharkiv and reaching the borders. I request the Indian Government to please bring it back as the condition is going worst day by day.”
Another student a resident of Rourkela, Susanta Kumar Patra, a 2nd Year Medical Student at Vinnytsia National Medical University narrated, “We were inside our hostel when we got the news that to get prepare and shift to the safe place and take shelter inside the bunkers. We use to hear the sirens and shift to the bunkers. However, near the border of Romania, there were no facilities for food, we got help from a few members of the NGO who had given us some dry fruits. But we and other friends were standing at the border for three days. Some students didn’t have jackets they were standing in cold. We have come through Romania border, but after crossing Romania, I must say the Romanian people had extended a great help and provided great hospitality for us. They had cooperated with us, provided shelter, doctors, food for us and seeing this the students were relaxed and then Indian Government brought back us from Romania”.
“He had been stuck in Ukraine for last one week. We are happy that after much struggle we got to see our son back who has returned back safely but simultaneously we are sad about the parents whose son or daughter are still stuck in Ukraine. When they were in Ukraine, we use to speak but when they had arrived near the Romania border, we were unable to speak with him due to a network connectivity issue, we use just to get the message that, we are in the queue, we are crossing the border, that its. When they reached Romania, they had narrated how Ukrainians were pushing them and how they were standing in cold temperatures, with no food. They were not able to walk properly after crossing the border.” Said mother of Susanta
