Gujarat evacuees breathe easy on return

New Delhi: Several Indian students in Ukraine trudged 35km in subzero temperatures to reach the Polish border hoping for an escape, but are now stuck there. With little or no food, they are sleeping in parks as mercury drops to minus four degrees.

Their phone batteries are dying and the students who reached the border check point on Saturday and pleaded for swift evacuation. “It was an extremely long walk and our bodies were giving up but we just kept moving, taking care of each other in the hope that once we reach the border, maybe, the worst will be over. But that’s not the end, several hours later we are still waiting.

We have tried all helpline numbers but there has been no response,” Nrupakshi, a student of Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, said over the phone. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter that Indians should not go to any of the border posts without prior coordination with the Indian government officials.