Kasganj (Uttar Pradesh): As the repatriation of Indian students stuck in Ukraine continues, an MBBS student from Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj, Shobhit Maheshwari, returned home safely.
Maheshwari was stranded in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, after the Russian attack on the country. Maheshwari's safe return to his homeland was not a cakewalk.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Maheshwari said that they tried to return to India on February 24, the same day Russia attacked Ukraine. After which he, along with many other Indians, were trapped in Kyiv. They ran out of the essential items after which the local students came to his rescue.
"We arrived at Kyiv airport on February 24 to return to India, but three hours before the flight arrived, Russia attacked Ukraine. Immediately we were evacuated from the airport," he said.
Narrating the ordeal, Masheswari said that they had to walk 4 kilometres on foot after which they were able to find bunkers to safety.
"After the airport authorities threw us out of the airport, we walked for about four hours. During this time, the airport authority bus dropped us at the centre of Kyiv. All means of transport was closed. That's why we also joined the crowd and reached a hostel in Kyiv where we hid in a bunker built under the hostel," he said.
After spending four days in the bunker, Maheshwari, along with many other people, reached the railway station on February 27 to leave Lviv via train.
"After four days in the bunker, we reached the railway station on February 27 to leave Lviv via a train. Which would require a journey of 10 long hours. From Lviv, we reached the Poland border, where we met people from the Indian Embassy. Among them was former Union Minister General VK Singh, who stayed with us in the plane till we return to India," he added.
After safely returning to India, the students are in a fix as they will lose their precious time.
Maheshwari also questioned the Central government saying that due to the non-availability of seats in medicine in India and the fees of private medical colleges being expensive, we tend to go abroad. Something should be done by the government so that students can study medicine in the country without going abroad and staying in their own country.
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