Russia-Ukraine war: Vizag girl stranded in Kharkiv pleads for safe return

The war between Russia and Ukraine creating tension across the world has also left our own people of Vizag in danger. Uncertainty and fear have crept into their lives living every minute on the line of life and death. Nearly 800 students from the Telugu-speaking states are reportedly stuck in the war-filled region of Kharkiv. “We are living in utmost fear, there is so much uncertainty regarding our lives.” says a horrified Vizag girl stranded in a bunker amid the war in Ukraine. Reddy Nomula Satya Sreeja, a 19-year-old girl, hailing from Rampuram village in Pendurthi Mandal of Vizag along with her friends has been staying in a bunker to keep themselves alive amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Speaking to Yo! Vizag, Sreeja mentioned with a trembling voice, “The embassy has just been sending us some messages, they haven’t contacted us or given any kind of information regarding our safety.” She further added that their living conditions have gotten worse, with 50 people locked in one dusty bunker, there is only one washroom to use. It was also reported that the students do not have access to enough food. They were offered only breakfast and dinner and had to survive on a few biscuit packets they had.

” We have now come back to our hostel, we were asked to pack all our luggage and be ready post breakfast. They did not tell us exactly what is going to happen. We will either be sent back to the bunker or shifted further towards the western borders,” she said with fear.

A group of young students, who went with a dream of becoming doctors, are now stuck in a dusty bunker with zero clarity of their future. “Our parents are very worried, the panic is getting heavier by the day. Without proper signals in the bunker, we cannot even inform them about our well-being,” she added as she screamed at the sound of a bomb blast.

The students are reportedly studying at the Kharkiv National Medical University in Kharkiv. The hostels in which the students have been residing are run by the University and is located just 500 km from the capital Kyiv. The management has not given the students any clarity and has only been keeping them in bunkers. Speaking to Yo! Vizag, N. Ganesh, a resident of Warangal said  ” We have been inside the bunker since yesterday, there are no signals or adequate food.”

“We are in a state of despair, we do not know what to do. We urge PM Modi and CM Jagan to bring us back to India by military flights if no civilian flights are operating,” urged a worried Sreeja. She added that those who were supposed to catch the Thursday flight were stranded at the airport as the flights were cancelled.  “All the flight tickets were booked by the University students, but they have cancelled the flights, our parents back home are worried about us,’ she explained.

With the suspension of flights distressing the stranded Indians, the Vizag girl, Sreeja, pleaded that the Indian Embassy of Ukraine should take all necessary steps to ensure a safe return of all Indians back to India from the war zone.