SHIMLA, FEBRUARY 25: Government of India and Embassy of India at Kyiv today have started evacuating over 400 students from western part of Chernivtsi near Romanian border and Chop-Zahony near Hungary border from the war-torn Ukraine.
According to the advisory issued by the Embassy of India at Kyiv on February 25 on Friday today, the Indian nationals mainly students have been asked to shift to the checkpoints at Chop-Zahony, Hungarian border near Uzhorod and at Porubne-Zahony on the Romanian border near Chernivtsi. The Embassy teams are setting up control rooms there to assist the nationals.
Embassy has prepared a list of 200 students from Bukovina State Medical University and as much number from other university near the border with Hungry and Romanian, informed students from Ukraine.
Indian students near these borders have been asked first to reach these Checkpoints first in an organised manner, said the Embassy of India Kyiv. Embassy has shared advisory with the students in Ukraine and on social media today. Embassy will coordinate with the teams of Ministry of External Affairs to exercise and actualise this option”, Embassy advisory said.
Once the above routes are operationalised, Indian nationals travelling by their own arrangement of transport would be advised to proceed to the checkpoints and remain in touch with helpline numbers being set up at respective checkpoints- Chop-Zahony, Hungary border near Uzhorod and at Porubne-Zahon near Romania for facilitation through the border, the advisory said.
Embassy told the students that the number would be shared once the control rooms are established at these checkpoints. “The students are advised to remain in touch with student contractors for orderly moment. They should carry with them passport, cash preferably in US dollars for any emergency expenses and other essentials and Covid -19 double vaccination certificate if available”, Embassy said.
The bus operators and students are also advised to get the printouts of Indian Flags and paste the flags prominently on vehicles and buses in which they are travelling. Embassy has asked Indian national to remain strong, safe and alert and Embassy is also working around the clock to support the Indian community in Ukraine.
On the war-torn easter border of Ukraine, the situation was diametrically opposite, The videos of students hiding in the basement of their hostels and apartments are doing rounds on social media. "Will we survive here in the basements and if yes how long?", the students twitted videos on social media, urging the Indian government to take them safely out from Ukraine back to India.
Apart from Bukovina, there are Bogomolets national medical university, Kharkiv national medical university, Vinnytsia national Pirogov medical university, Ternopil State medical university, which are popular among the Indian students. There are over 20 medical universities in Ukraine offering MBBS degree to the students who are enrolled there from many countries including India as these degrees are valid in India.
The Indian students go there for MBBS as the cost of degree is much less than that offered by the private medical colleges and medical universities in India, said the parents, who are forced to send their children to Ukraine.
Hundreds of students from Shimla, Mandi, Kangra, Solan, Una and other districts, and from other Himalayan states including Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh go for studying for MBBS Degree to Ukraine every year, said the parents.
(Kuldeep Chauhan is Editor, HimbuMail)
