Russia Ukraine War: Students Say India Govt Responsible If They Die
Students are desperate to evacuate war-ravaged Ukraine. Watch our video for all the updates.
Indian Students in Ukraine over the last few days have been posting several videos to the government on Twitter for their immediate evacuation as the country is under attack. Scared of the shelling and weary of waiting to be rescued, Indian students stuck in Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine posted a video clip Saturday morning. In the video clip a woman student who was standing with her colleagues, said, “We are students of Sumy State University. It is the tenth day of the war. Today, we got the news that Russia has announced a ceasefire to open humanitarian corridors for two cities. One of them is Mariupol which is 600 km away from Sumy. Since morning, we constantly listen to bombardment, shelling and street fights. We are afraid, we have awaited a lot and we cannot wait anymore. We are risking our lives, we are moving towards the border.
If anything happens to us, all the responsibility will be of the government and the Indian embassy. If anything happens to any one of us, then Operation Ganga will be a big failure.”
Another student said, “This is the last video from the Sumy State University students. We are risking our lives, we are going towards the border opened by Russia. This is our last request and last video. Just pray for us. We are moving at our own risk.” A third student shouted: “We need our government right now.” The clip ended with students chanting “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. Relatives in India are worried because the students are stepping out – since there is no water supply, they are collecting snow and melting it for use. Within 90 minutes of the video posting, the Indian government responded, asking them to remain inside the shelters and assuring them that they will soon be evacuated. Officials said that a team from the Indian Embassy is in Poltava, a city in Ukraine. The team is coordinating with the students to ensure they reach the western Ukraine border safely. The students have been told to be ready to leave at short notice. According to the Mariupol municipality, the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol has been postponed. It says the Russian side has not been observing the temporary ceasefire in place. It went on to say that residents should disperse and find places of shelter and that more information will be given soon. A resident of Mariupol has said that he was hearing shelling every 3 minutes. We pray that the students are able to reach the border and come back to India safely.
