SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Mar 9: Students, who have returned home from war-ravaged Ukraine on Tuesday night, shared their nightmarish experience of waking up to the sound of bombs, hiding in bunkers along with thousands of people, and walking in sub-zero temperatures to make it to the border checkpoints.
Several have also said that even though they were back, they feel traumatized as the sounds of bombing and firing continue to haunt them at the back of their minds. “The situation was beyond our imagination. We were first hiding in bunkers and had thought that the situation would be resolved on its own within a few days. However, when we realized the things were only getting worse, we ran to save our lives,” said Prabhat Kumar from Garhwa.
“Initially we were in Ivano-Frankivsk on February 23. We got up after the bombing began, but we thought it was regular. However, by the next day, we were even scared. Meanwhile, even after the advisory, our university was not shutting down. This also was problematic for us, as we thought of our studies and were not able to miss our classes,” Kumar said.
Kumar continued saying, “We thought of crossing the border as no flights were available. We could not even eat anything due to the tension and stress. We waited till February 25 and got to know that Romania, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary were opening their borders for refugees. However, the evacuation had just begun in a nearby university. Soon several students from our university were also being evacuated. We, however, could not leave till February 26 as neither did we have any money, nor were the ATM machines working so that we could have withdrawn some cash.”
“We left the university by the next morning in our college buses and did not have to face any kind of rush. However, our problems began when our buses were stopped at around 7:30-8 pm, at least 12-13 kms away from the border because of all the rush and traffic. The temperatures were -8 to -9 degrees. We, as a result, walked all the distance and reached the border. However, after all this, we were not allowed to cross the border and were made to wait in the low temperatures because the gates were not opened yet. Hence, we waited for several hours right by the border, without tents, just to get back home safely. Residents at the border shared some snacks with us, which helped us sustain for some time,” the student said.
When asked if they were harassed or attacked by the Ukrainian officials and army personnel when at the border, Kumar said, “It wasn’t entirely their fault. Several students were not following rules and breaking lines when we were asked to form single files to cross the border. Some even broke one of the border gates. As a result, pepper spray and plastic bullets were fired. However, some people on the other borders connected to Poland, were actually harassed, as I have been informed by my friend.”
Kumar continued saying, “We entered Romania on February 27 at 12. After a five-hour wait at the immigration, we were able to enter Romania. Till the time we had crossed the border, we were terrified but after, we could finally relax. Several residents offered clothes, food items and even money so that we could get back home. We were helped a lot by them.”
“Soon the Indian embassy intervened and sent us to the Romanian capital Bucharest, from where we have now been brought back,” Kumar added.
