'Be Strong': Indian Embassy's Fresh Advisory to Students in Ukraine's Sumy Amid Desperate Appeal for Help

Following desperate appeals from Indian students stranded in northeast Ukraine’s Sumy, also shared by CNN-News18, the Indian embassy in the war-torn country said on Saturday that it is looking into “all possible mechanisms” to safely and securely evacuate them.

In an early-morning tweet, it stated that it had discussed evacuation and the identification of exit routes with all interlocutors, including the international humanitarian organisation Red Cross.

“Exploring all possible mechanisms to evacuate Indian citizens in Sumy, safely & securely. Discussed evacuation & identification of exit routes with all interlocuters including Red Cross. Control room will continue to be active until all our citizens are evacuated. Be Safe Be Strong,” it said.

Indian students in the Ukrainian city of Sumy had on Friday urged officials to help them evacuate as it sees a rise in hostilities. A student, Ezabel, speaking to CNN-News18 said that more than 600 Indian students remained inside bunkers.

She had also said that the city’s electricity, heating and water systems had shut down owing to continuous Russian shelling. The student had said that the situation in Sumy was dangerous due to continuous fights as well as attacks.

Pictures shared by these students to CNN-News18 showed many Indian students huddled in a bunker at an unknown location in the city.

“Sumy is disconnected from other cities of Ukraine. No possible way to take students out of the city. Sumy is in a very dangerous situation and attacks,” Ezabel said.

The student feared that they would get stuck in the city as bridges were blown up due to bombing and railway services are not operating due to the hostilities. Sumy is close to the Russian border but due to raging hostilities students in Sumy, Indians as well as of other nationalities, are unable to get out of the city.

Another student studying in the Sumy State University who goes by the name Swatil had told CNN-News18 that students are aware that buses were arranged but outlined that it is dangerous to travel to reach those buses.

“We can’t reach the borders and these buses. We don’t have clearance to go from our hostel. It is not safe for us to travel now to these areas. We will be targeted by the military,” Swatil told News18. “We don’t have water now. We can’t stay here for long. We can’t use the toilets. It’s unhygienic now. We can’t cook. For how long we can stay is uncertain,” he further added.

Read all the Latest News India and Breaking News here