Had to walk about 8 km to reach Romania: TN students who arrived from Ukraine

"There was a struggle; struggle for everything, including food, but after we entered Romania, it felt normal," said S Harihara Sudhan. Vaishnavi Devi Sathiyamoorthy, another student hailing from the Theni district, said that they had to walk about 8 kilometers to reach the Romanian border as vehicles had piled up on the stretch as more people were leaving Ukraine to escape from war. 

Read: OPS appeals to Centre and TN govt for ensuring safe return of Indians from Ukraine

They were two of the five students pursuing medicine who safely landed in Chennai from Ukraine. The other students are Shaantanu Boobalan, Selvipriya, Vivek, and Sameer Aboobakkar. 

Vaishnavi Devi said that she stayed on the western side of Ukraine where the impact of the war was not so much, but she urged the government to rescue the students who are stuck on the eastern side of Ukraine where the war is raging.  "We were evacuated before it got worse," she said. 

Read: Fourth evacuation flight carrying 198 Indians leaves for Delhi from Bucharest

Shaantanu's father Boobalan from Salem, a college professor, speaking to the media said that he tried to bring his son back to Chennai on February 24, on the first day of war itself, but it was not successful since the airport in Kyiv was declared closed for operations. "So, he had to travel back to the college hostel and then reach Romania through the arrangements made by the college administration. He spent about 40 hours on the road travelling back and forth. There was trouble contacting them when they were about to cross Romania. Since these students were on the western side, it was relatively easier for them. But there are still a lot of students stuck in Kyiv itself. We would be happier if all the students are rescued safe," he said. 

All five students are first-year medical students of Bukovinian State Medical University, who went to Ukraine last December. They reached Delhi along with other students from different states and then boarded a flight to Chennai. 

Minister K S Masthan who received the students at the airport informed that 12 more students would reach Chennai from Mumbai later in the day. He said that there are at least 5,000 students from Tamil Nadu in Ukraine and details of about 1,800 students have been received and steps are on to contact the other students through their respective institutions. 

Read: Russian troops enter Ukraine's 2nd largest city of Kharkiv

Meanwhile, BJP women wing members raised slogans praising prime minister Narendra Modi at the airport, leading to confusion.