Indian students in Ukrainian city take shelter in basement after Russian invasion, seek evacuation
Washington(PTI): Nearly 400 Indian students in Ukraine's Sumy city bordering Russia have taken shelter in a basement after Russian forces took control of it and have appealed to the government of India to evacuate them.
Sumy in northeastern Ukraine is about 50 miles from the Russian border. The city mayor surrendered to Russian forces on Thursday.
The students, most of whom are studying in Sumy State Medical University, said they fear for their safety as gunshots can be heard outside.
"Right now, we are hiding in the basement of our dormitory. We do not know if this basement is enough for us to survive. We urge the Indian government to try to evacuate us from the eastern side of Ukraine," Lalit Kumar, one of the students, told PTI.
"Travelling on our own is not possible. Martial law has been imposed here and that means no outing, no cars, no buses and no private vehicle can travel. ATMs and supermarkets are also not working," he said.
The students also shared short videos of the basement they are hiding in.
Kumar, a fifth-year student, said they have limited supplies.
"We do not have enough supplies here to continue. The Indian government is our last hope... we want go to our motherland and see our loved ones. Kindly help us," he said in a message.
Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine on Wednesday night. Russia has launched multiple attacks on several areas in central and eastern Ukraine.
At a media briefing on Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla assured all Indian citizens, including students, in Ukraine and their family members that the government will take all possible steps to bring them back safe and sound.
He said there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days.
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Two West Bengal SIR poll officials enter Odisha village ‘mistakenly’; 72 locals held for assaulting
Balasore: At least 72 people, including 23 women, from Rajnagar village in the district have been arrested under charge of assaulting two poll officials from West Bengal, who are suspected to have mistakenly entered their village on Wednesday.
Odisha Police are learned to have said that poll officers Sumit Hazra and Som Hansda, who are bank employees, had been assigned the duty of supervisiing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise at Baliagaria Block under the Nayagram Police Station limits in West Bengal. On Wednesday, however, the duo mistakenly entered the nearby Rajnagar, located under the Raibania Police Station limits in Balasore district, they added.
According to news agencies, Balasore Additional Superintendent of Police Niranjan Behera has said that the returning officers were detained and assaulted by the villagers on account of communication gap. Explaining the incident further, the officer said that Hazra and Hansda approached an auto rickshaw that was on school duty as they were unable to get any other transportation facility to reach Nayagram. “As the rickshaw driver declined to help, they were waiting for an alternate means of transportation, when a rumour was spread that child lifters were working in the area. This gave rise to suspicion among the villagers and led to the assault of Hazra and Hansda,” Behera is learned to have said.
Further, the Addl SP has said that the villagers are learned to have assaulted and detained two police personnel from Raibania Police Station who rushed to Rajnagar to rescue the returning officers. “Additional forces were sent to the village, even as senior police and administrative officers visited Rajnagar to bring the situation under control,” he reportedly added.
Behera also said, “The injured poll officials, after being rescued, were admitted to the local hospital for treatment. Two cases are registered in this regard, one by the poll officials and another by police. More than 100 people have been questioned.”
The investigation team, after verifying the video footage, has held 72 accused, who will be produced before court. Additional security forces have been mobilized in the Raibania Police Station limits to prevent any untoward situation, officials have said.
