Ukrainian Guards Harassing Indians Trying To Flee War Zone, Says Student After Returning

The situation in Ukraine is very bad, said Shruti Nayak, a third year MBBS student at Ivano National Medical University. 

Indian students being evacuated under Operation Ganga | PIB

New Delhi: A medical student from Madhya Pradesh's Guna who returned from Ukraine has claimed that Ukrainian guards had beaten and harassed Indian students trying to flee the war-torn country. 

"The situation in Ukraine is very bad," PTI quoted Shruti Nayak, a third year MBBS student at Ivano National Medical University, as saying. 

"Ukrainian guards were harassing Indian students who were fleeing the war zone and even beating them up," she claimed. "I am fortunate enough that I reached India and am now meeting family members," a relieved Nayak further said.

Nayak had booked a return ticket for February 16, but the flight was cancelled. She then booked a ticket for March 3, but it too got cancelled, PTI reported.

On February 26, Nayak travelled 400 kilometres on a bus to Romania from where the government helped the students. She boarded a special Air India flight for evacuees on February 27 from Romania and reached New Delhi at 6.30 pm the same day.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said earlier that more than 180 students from the state stuck in Ukraine contacted a helpline set up by the government. So far, 29 persons from Madhya Pradesh have returned from Ukraine, Chouhan stated on Monday night.

Videos of a purported security officer hitting a student was widely shared on social media a couple of days ago as students stranded in Ukraine tried to reach the country's western borders following Russian invasion. Most reports of Indians facing harassment came from the overcrowded Ukraine-Poland border. 

Another video showed Ukrainian soldiers firing in the air and forcing students back into Ukraine. 

READ HERE: Indian Students Fleeing Ukraine Assaulted and Harassed At Borders, Videos Go Viral

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also shared one such video showing girl students being shoved by border officials. 

The Ministry of External Affairs, on Tuesday, confirmed death of a medical student from Karnataka in Kharkiv amid heavy shelling.