'It was unbelievable that it was war', recalls Indian student back from Ukraine

On the morning of 24 February, over 200 students in a hostel in Kyiv were jolted out of sleep with a strong explosion. ‘Russians (have) attacked!’, the words were sufficient to create commotion in the students’ community. Nishat Haidar, in her second year, is one of the Indians of her batch, who made it home on Saturday but with haunting memories.

"I heard the explosion that morning and sat on my bed. I assumed the sound to be of crackers. In such a situation, one might feel that something is happening... I stayed in bed but couldn't sleep. Soon, the entire hostel was in a hassle," recalls Nishat.

"This could be something, but not an attack; this can't be war. We were convinced that they wouldn't do it...war is not that easy...," Nishat said.

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The offline classes at Bogomolets National Medical University commenced in October last year. Nishat, who hails from Kolkata, is the youngest among her siblings. The two sisters, and a brother, are all abroad pursuing careers. She was admitted to the university in Kyiv in December 2020.

Her batch has around 187 students. Online classes were ongoing even on the day of the bombing. The next day, the university still asked students to submit assignments online. For four days, around 200 students from different countries continued to stay in the hostel that has a usual capacity of 600. There were also students who had been shifted here, from other parts of the city.

“We were asked by seniors to carry passports and posvidka (a document that certifies temporary residence in the country), with us, wherever we go,” Nishat said. The contractors who get students admitted abroad had no idea what to advise, and directed students to leave Kyiv. There were four borders to approach - Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania.

When the night curfew was relaxed on the 28th morning, students planned to take a train. It involved a two-hour walk through narrow streets, avoiding the thoroughfare. The railway tracks could have been the next target for bombing; time was running out.

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At the station, the train that could have taken to the Hungarian border would have arrived in the evening. Despite tickets, Ukrainian citizens were getting preference for getting inside coaches. “We got onto the first train that we could, to Lviv. Students stood through the journey for nearly 9 hours. Even in washrooms, four-to-five students stood. A bus from Lviv took us to the border and we were able to reach Slovakia,” said Nishat.

The Slovak government had put up camps for the people coming in from Ukraine. The Indian embassy, hereafter, ensured that students reach India, safely. The state government officials received Nishat and three others in New Delhi and arranged for their return to Kolkata.

“We have been told that online classes will resume from mid-March,” says Nishat. When asked about what she thinks of the remaining part of her course, she adds, “I really want to… probably, I am waiting for… this is something I really don’t know, I am blank about this. I am almost done with my second year also, and quite settled with my university."

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