'We were ready to leave, but University in Ukraine did not let us...'

The Indian government has been bringing home thousands of nationals stranded in Ukraine via special flights operating from the war-ravaged country's neighbourhood. Most of those evacuated are students studying in colleges in Ukraine. The rescue effort received a jolt when one of the Indian students, Naveen SG lost his life to shelling in Kharkiv.

Asianet Newsable's Yacoob spoke to Chandan Gowda, who was among the batch of Indian students that was assisted by Naveen to leave Kharkiv on the day when he was killed. Gowda told Asianet Newsable that while the Indian government gave information about the situation, the Kharkiv National Medical University forced them to stay back which eventually resulted in thousands of students getting stranded in Ukraine's second-biggest city. Read on.

What was the situation in Kharkiv when you were there?

Ten days ago, the situation was normal. We were going to class but on February 23, we heard the first explosion. Nine friends, including me, assembled at one apartment. We gathered food items and groceries. We knew that something was going to happen, but we did not guess that it would be so critical. After 23 hours, the situation was not in anybody's hands. We just heard explosions and gunshots.

How many of you were there in the bunker?

The first day we went to the Metro tunnel, as it is safer than a flat. But there was no food facility or water. So we came back to the flat and stayed in the bunkers beneath the flat. We were managing with one meal for two days and had some chocolates and snacks. For five days, we stayed in the bunker.

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There were no lights in the bunker, after three days, even drinking water was over. We were drinking from taps. For urination, there is a separate place in the bunker. For the other purpose, our flat was just 50 meters away and we used to take turns and go whenever the curfew was relaxed. Even during night hours, one to two were awake and remained alert checking the messages on phone about any communication to evacuate any attack close by.

Why did you not evacuate earlier?

The university has told us that those who want to leave can leave and those who have work can stay and since we have our class they said if we go we will lose our visas hence we stayed back. It was their mistake that made us suffer.

Were students tracking the embassy's advisories before the war began?

Yes, three weeks ago, the embassy had asked the students to leave but again, the University pressurised us to stay back. We still went ahead and booked tickets and till March 6 all the tickets were booked and unfortunately, the airways were shut from 23 February onwards.

How did you people move out from Kharkiv?

We had decided to leave Kharkiv on Feb 28 itself at our own risk and the next day our senior, Naveen woke us up early in the morning and asked us to leave as there was no curfew at that time. He decided to stay back. Naveen said that he will bring other juniors. He told us that all of us will meet at Lviv and told us not to worry. We took a cab and boarded the train, and everything was done by ourselves. 

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Two hours later, we heard the news from our friends from the bunker that Naveen was killed. We saw the video and we were shocked. We could not come back to see him and people in bunkers too could not go as it is a war zone. He was a brilliant student and topped the exam that was held last year.

There have been reports that Indians were not being allowed to board trains...

On the train, we had to stand for 15 hours. When we reached the Poland border, some locals armed with guns fired in the air and first allowed their women and children to board and then allowed others to board. If people stand near the door, they will be pushed out at Kyiv as many will be waiting to board from that stressed route too, we had to go in the middle of the compartment. Once we reached Lviv, it was a bit relaxing as the same people (Ukrainians) treated us well and they gave us food.

Did Ukraine police or Russian forces create any obstacle in your way?

No, as I said earlier, the only locals created hurdles while leaving Kharkiv but the same people treated us with respect. The tense situation was in Kharkiv as it is only 60 km away from Russia and the tension was on the western side and not on the eastern side. Once we reached the border, we entered Poland and the Indian government made all the arrangements. We landed In India.

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When did the first assistance from the Indian government come?

The government was always sharing information and had asked us to leave. It was the University's mistake due to which we had all got stuck. Actually, we all had booked our tickets in advance and would have left by March 6, but unfortunately, there was an attack and all the airways were closed.

Will you now go back to Ukraine if the situation returns to normalcy?

Never, I will never ever go back to Ukraine. Actually, in Poland during our stay, there was the news that now students will be shifted to Poland and other countries to continue their studies. We are still waiting for a clear picture to emerge.

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