GUWAHATI: Reports of ceasefire-declaration by Russia on Monday morning to open up humanitarian corridors came as a big relief for the 50-odd students from Assam stuck in Sumy city in Ukraine. The moment the good news spread they started queuing up outside their hostels. But the excitement was short-lived as the students saw only three buses had been sent for their evacuation, while the number of students waiting to be ferried home was nearly 700.
“The girls were asked to board first. And then they were told to get down. Our local guardians informed us that firing had started again in the routes through which the students would be evacuated,” Assam boy Arif Mahfuz Siddiqui told TOI over phone from Sumy.
The students had waited for three hours since morning for the buses to arrive. They started going back to their hostels with heavy hearts from Zamostanskya 7 Street. “Nothing is clear, neither from the Indian embassy, nor from our local guardians,” he rued.
Air strikes have damaged water and electricity connections and the students are facing really hard times in Sumy. Many do not have food either in the bunkers where they are hiding. Indian students form a sizable chunk of the foreign students at the Sumy State University.
Some students said people associated with the Indian embassy had passed on the information that they should leave Sumy ‘quietly’ earlier in the day. The information about the arrival of the buses came true. However, the students were annoyed when the buses left without evacuating them. “I guess those were fake buses,” said another student, Bishal Dasa resident of Guwahati. “How can they send three buses for 700-odd students?” he asked.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said three more students from Assam, Surangana Dutta, Pratyashi Deka and Rajashree Bororeached Delhi. “So far, 104 students from Assam have been evacuated from Ukraine,” Sarma tweeted.
“The girls were asked to board first. And then they were told to get down. Our local guardians informed us that firing had started again in the routes through which the students would be evacuated,” Assam boy Arif Mahfuz Siddiqui told TOI over phone from Sumy.
The students had waited for three hours since morning for the buses to arrive. They started going back to their hostels with heavy hearts from Zamostanskya 7 Street. “Nothing is clear, neither from the Indian embassy, nor from our local guardians,” he rued.
Air strikes have damaged water and electricity connections and the students are facing really hard times in Sumy. Many do not have food either in the bunkers where they are hiding. Indian students form a sizable chunk of the foreign students at the Sumy State University.
Some students said people associated with the Indian embassy had passed on the information that they should leave Sumy ‘quietly’ earlier in the day. The information about the arrival of the buses came true. However, the students were annoyed when the buses left without evacuating them. “I guess those were fake buses,” said another student, Bishal Dasa resident of Guwahati. “How can they send three buses for 700-odd students?” he asked.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said three more students from Assam, Surangana Dutta, Pratyashi Deka and Rajashree Bororeached Delhi. “So far, 104 students from Assam have been evacuated from Ukraine,” Sarma tweeted.