new Delhi: Indian students stranded in the troubled city of Sumi in north-eastern Ukraine said it was a “miracle” for them to survive the war and felt relieved when they finally reached Delhi on Friday morning. Dheeraj Kumar, a sixth-year medical student at Sumy State University, said he was happy to see his parents at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here. Kumar told PTI, “We at Sumi have gone through unexpected challenges.
It was a terrifying experience to see and survive the horrors of war for 13 days. To me, coming back alive in my country feels like a miracle.” On reaching the IGI airport, Kumar touched the feet of his parents, who had come from Chamba in Himachal Pradesh to pick up their son.
Kumar thanked the Government of India and the embassies in Ukraine and Poland for helping them in their evacuation and safe return to India. Kumar said, “Our government has supported us a lot. He did everything to bring us back. I am relieved to be back here.”
After two weeks in the war-torn city in the eastern European country of Sumy, students were pulled out of a war-torn region in Ukraine using multiple modes of transport, covering hundreds of miles. The students were evacuated from Sumi on a second attempt after going through an arduous journey to escape the war-torn area. Sumi has seen heavy shelling since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last month.
Mahima Rathi, a medical student who returned from Sumi, a native of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, said she had to run to the bunkers every time the siren sounded. Rathi said, “Whenever the siren sounded, we had to take shelter in the bunkers. We were all very scared. We didn’t know if we would be able to survive and return safely. We have now breathed a sigh of relief after returning to India.”
An Air India flight from Rzejo, Poland carrying 240 students evacuated from Sumi landed in Delhi on Friday morning. Officials said the aircraft took off from Rezzo at around 11.30 pm (Indian time) on Thursday and landed in Delhi at 6.45 am on Friday.
India has sent three flights to Poland to bring back a large final group of 600 students evacuated from Sumi. Another plane is expected to land in Delhi at around 8.40 am, officials said. The Indian government is undertaking a challenging evacuation operation under ‘Operation Ganga’ to help the stranded Indians to escape from Ukraine. The drive to evacuate 600 students from Sumi began on Tuesday morning. (agency)