War declared, Kolkata students stuck in Ukraine on tenterhooks – Times of India

Kolkata/Siliguri: Parents of at least three Bengal medical students studying in Ukraine heaved a sigh of relief as they flew back home in evacuation flights on Thursday. But the family members of others stuck in Ukraine remain anxious as Russia officially declared war on Ukraine, resulting in closure of the Ukrainian airspace and cancellation of special flights, which could have brought the stranded students home.
“I am relieved that my son is back home. I feared that my son would get stuck in a war-torn country. I still shudder to think what would have happened had he not been evacuated on Wednesday, hours before Russia took control of Ukraine airports,” said Bannya Basu, mother of Bitan, a third-year student at Bukovinian State Medical University. He returned to his Siliguri home on Thursday. Two other medical students from Siliguri — Sukriti Dey and Ananya Moitra — have also returned to India but stayed back in Delhi to attend an online exam.
Meanwhile, the students from Kolkata, who were settled in Vinnytsia, around 265-km from Kyiv in Ukraine, were “nonchalant” about the development in the country while speaking to TOI till Wednesday. But they started panicking from Thursday.
“The situation has changed overnight. There have been sounds of blasts and bombings in Vinnytsia while supermarkets and pharmacies have shut down. Cops are patrolling the streets and there is a complete ban on movement other than for emergencies,” said Anindya Sekhar Bhadra, a medical student of National Pirogov Memorial Medical University .
Anubhav Chandel, another student of the same university, locked himself inside his hostel room along with other students as his flight to Delhi — scheduled on Friday — got cancelled. “My family at home is panicking but there is little we can do. I am staying inside the hostel and wouldn’t head out till the situation gets better. I am in touch with the Indian Embassy,” said Chandel, a Dum Dum resident.
The situation was particularly bad for those students who had their homebound flights scheduled on Thursday morning but found them cancelled once they reached the airport. Now they have nowhere to go.
Back home, the parents of Gobardanga resident Swagata Sadhukhan, Habra resident Nisha Biswas and East Midnapore resident Arnab Manna are worried as their wards, studying medicine in Ukraine, are still stuck in the country. They have approached the state government to make arrangements for bringing them back home safely.
(With inputs from Suman Mondal in Tamluk)