Guwahati, March 1: Ibadur Rahman Khan, a retired teacher from Cachar district’s Brahmangram village, is among many parents from Assam who are in a state of anxiety and panic as their wards, trapped in war-torn Ukraine, await for evacuation from ‘danger zone’ after six days of reportedly random and intense shelling by Russian military forces.
His son, Munim Ahmed Khan, 26, is a fourth-year MBBS student at Sumy State University in the city of Sumy in north-eastern Ukraine, not too far away from the capital city of Kyiv, which has bore the brunt of the Russian offensive.
“I spoke to him by way of a video call on Monday afternoon and he informs that even as Sumy has not come under attack by the Russian forces as yet, the capital city of Kyiv, close to his city, along with other cities in eastern Ukraine, have been heavily bombarded. The situation is worsening and panic-stricken students have to run from their hostels and take cover inside bunkers as they hear the sound of an explosion,” Khan, a resident of the village in the Kalain area, informed The Shillong Times on Tuesday.
“The students, he said, are running out of money and food/water while the department stores are short of adequate stock (given the panic buying resorted to by people amid emergency). As of now, there is growing uncertainty as to how and when he along with the others stuck there will be evacuated. The family is really worried for him,” he said.
Khan further informed that colleges and universities in Ukraine were closed a week before Russia attacked that country, but Sumy State University suspended classes from February 24 (when the bombing started) making it difficult to make arrangements for immediate evacuation.
Another problem is the geographical location as Sumy, about 40 to 50km from the eastern border (with Russia) from where the military offensive was launched, is very far from Ukraine’s western borders (with Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland).
“Hence, reaching the western borders (many have also reportedly walked for 40 hours to reach the Romanian border from western parts of Ukraine) for evacuation from north-east Ukraine will require a Herculean effort by road amidst heavy artillery shelling,” Khan said, while appealing to the central and state governments to take immediate measures for safe evacuation of his son and other students stranded in the city.
According to information received, 15 out of at least 160 persons from various districts of Assam have been evacuated till Tuesday morning. About five of them are from Cachar district.
“The number may vary from time to time. The process of evacuating the others stranded in Ukraine is on,” a statement said.
The Assam chief secretary has already instructed all deputy commissioners and superintendents of police to reach out to the parents or guardians of students from Assam stranded in Ukraine.
All DCs and SPs have been asked to be on alert and accord top-most priority to the matter. They were also asked to reassure the parents and guardians about the initiative of the government for safe return of all students from Assam.
The Embassy of India in Kyiv has, meanwhile, advised all Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine and its neighbouring region to stay in touch with the Embassy website and emergency helplines and follow advisory issued by the Embassy from time to time.
The Government of India and the Embassy of India are working to establish evacuation routes from Romanian and Hungary, a statement said, as the country has scaled up evacuation operations.