All 23 students from Muktsar district back from Ukraine

Tribune News Service

Archit Watts

Muktsar, March 8

With the return of Lukesh Kumar, a fifth-year MBBS student of Kharkiv National Medical University, who hails from Dabwali Dhabh village in Lambi here, all 23 students who were stranded in war-torn Ukraine have returned safely to their home district Muktsar.

The first student to return from Ukraine on February 27 belonged to Udekaran village. Of all 23 returnees, 22 are pursuing MBBS and one is an engineering student. Further, 16 students hails from Muktsar town, three Malout town, two Udekaran village, one each from Gidderbaha town and Dabwali Dhabh village.

Lukesh said, “I was staying in a bunker in my hostel until the Indian Embassy issued an advisory to leave Kharkiv at the earliest. I walked to a nearby town, where we were told to reach Pesochin. I again walked to reach Pesochin the same day. I spent three days there and got a bus to reach Romania border on March 6. Bus operators had been demanding $500 a student for the ride, but that day not even a penny was charged from the leftover students. I crossed over to Romania yesterday morning and finally got a flight at night to come to India. Now, no student is stranded at Pesochin.”

All students had to face a harrowing time till their evacuation. “We had to risk our lives to cross over to countries sharing their borders with Ukraine. Some of us even had miraculous escapes from missiles. There was an acute shortage of water and toilets. Luckily, somehow we managed to return to India safely. We are now concerned about our studies. We are thankful to the residents of Ukraine, who helped us a lot,” one of the students said.

Meanwhile, a couple from Bhagu village here was also reportedly stuck in Ukraine. It reportedly crossed over to some other country. However, the family has not shared their present location or contact numbers with the local administration.

Miraculous escape

We had to risk our lives to cross over to other countries from Ukraine. Some of us even had miraculous escapes from missiles. We are now concerned about our studies. — A Muktsar returnee

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