Srinagar: Fear has gripped 23-year old Aadam (name changed) after Russia declared war against Ukraine.
A resident of north Kashmir, he is currently pursuing medicine at Sumy State University.
Aadam, a resident of north Kashmir is currently pursuing his studies in medicine at Sumy State University. Though the situated city is far from the warzone, students fear that the city might face airstrikes like Kharkiv, Kyiv, Uman, and others.
“The situation is tense for a few days. There is an atmosphere of fear. We are restless since nobody is sure what is going to happen in a couple of days or hours,” he told The Kashmir Monitor from Ukraine.
Aadam is currently staying in the hostel. He has kept his bags ready so that he can leave at any point in time. He said the officials of the university have advised them to shift to the basement of the university.
“We were told that the students may have to shift to the first floor, which is underground. Russia has declared war against Ukrainian forces. They are capturing government buildings. It is very scary since we too study in a government university,” Aadam said.
For the last two days, Aadam along with his colleagues has been stocking the essentials. “It is curfew-like situation after 6 pm. Food outlets are witnessing an immense rush of people. It seems that the stocks of food and essentials will be exhausted soon,” he said.
Aadam said the chances of their evacuation are grim given that only a few flights are available. “Three flights of Air Asia arrived here for evacuation. They rescued 600 students. We are eight Kashmiris. More than 700 Indians are still stranded in Sumy only,” he said.
Aadam said the airline companies too have hiked their airfare. “From Rs 35000, the airfare has gone up to Rs 65000. Now the flights have been canceled. Under such a situation, a person can’t travel to an airport which is already under attack by Russian forces,” he said.
Aadam said that the stranded Indian citizens have appealed embassy to evacuate them at the earliest.
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