India News | Despair and Fear, Relief and Joy of Malayali Students Stranded in Ukrainian -- Two Sides of Crisis There
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Despair and fear of Malayali students trapped in Ukraine, deprived of food and water as well as constant shelling and gunfire around them and the joy and relief of those who managed to return safely to India with parents hugging them at the airports, were the two sides of the crisis resulting out of the ongoing Russian invasion.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (PTI) Despair and fear of Malayali students trapped in Ukraine, deprived of food and water as well as constant shelling and gunfire around them and the joy and relief of those who managed to return safely to India with parents hugging them at the airports, were the two sides of the crisis resulting out of the ongoing Russian invasion.
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Videos went viral of Malayali students, huddled in bunkers or underground metro stations in various parts of eastern Ukraine in below freezing temperatures, crying out for help or to evacuate them as they began running out of food and water which was difficult to procure in view of the constant shelling and gunfire around them.
In the videos, some Malayali students were seen sobbing in despair and fear over the constant fighting and lack of facilities and wondering how they would survive in the coming days as food stocks dwindled and only chlorinated water being available for sustenance.
In others, they spoke about the fighting going on in the streets which made it impossible for them to venture out to look for food or even to travel to the borders, so that they could be evacuated.
The hardships faced by the students were not confined to those trapped in the war-hit cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumi, as those who managed to reach the borders, specifically that of Poland and Slovakia, after trudging through the snow for several kilometers, had to face rejection and being turned back.
Some of them were also allegedly assaulted by Ukrainian army personnel and stopped from reaching the border.
The viral videos of the Malayali students' hardships prompted Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to address a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to ameliorate their suffering.
The CM also had a discussion with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the plight of the students in the war-hit cities as well as at the borders and the Union Minister assured that the issues would be dealt with.
Even as these disheartening events came to fore, there were some instances of joy and relief as around 48 Malayali students, who arrived in India from Ukraine as part of Operation Ganges, left for Kerala from Delhi and Mumbai in the morning and were scheduled to arrive at Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Calicut airports in the second half of the day.
As students, from the flights which arrived at Kochi and Calicut in the afternoon, exited the airport, there were joyous reunions between them and their relieved parents.
Those who managed to reach India safely, told reporters that many of their friends and classmates were still stuck in Ukraine and urged the government to bring all of them back.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)