“You have to go and sit in front of the Parliament. Take 100-200 people with you, please protest! The government has to do something. We are scared, we know we are going to die soon,” said Garima Mishra to her relatives in India.
She is among the twenty thousand Indian students who have been stranded in Ukraine. On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine. The invasion began with bombings in the capital city, Kyiv in the early hours of the morning, soon after this news providers in India started receiving frantic calls from Indian students in Ukraine.
INDIAN STUDENTS IN UKRAINE
It is estimated that around twenty thousand Indians study medicine in Ukraine. Most of these students belong to middle-class households and are compelled to pursue their dreams of becoming doctors in Ukrainian universities because they are cheaper than Indian universities. There is a scarcity of places in government-run medical institutes and the competition for a place is extremely fierce, with more than 21 students competing for a single place. Due to this, a large portion of students rely on private medical colleges for their admission. These institutes have a fee structure of up to one crore rupees for a medical degree. Hence, students from middle-class backgrounds are not able to afford education in such private universities and study abroad in places such as Ukraine.
THE ACTIONS OF THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT
In 2014, the government led by Narendra Modi started a catchphrase of establishing India as a “vishwa guru,” which translates to teacher of the world, in the international arena. The government has been focused on attaining this status however, after the condition of Indian students in Ukraine, this image has come into question.
The tensions between Ukraine and Russia started gaining ground in November 2021. By January 2022, most of the students in Ukraine had reached their campus for compulsory in-person classes. An analysis of the advice issued by the Indian embassy in Ukraine hints towards the haphazard preparedness of the Indian government regarding this situation. By 11 February, countries such as the United States of America, Netherlands, Australia, Japan, and United Kingdom, had urged their citizens in Ukraine to urgently leave the country in the next 24 to 48 hours. In comparison, the Indian embassy in Ukraine acted much later. By 25 January, Indian students had started sending a huge number of tweets to the embassy to enquire about the increasing tensions. Students asked about the embassy’s course of action and it was only after multiple requests that the Indian embassy sprang into action and issued a notice for all Indians in Ukraine to register with the embassy. They assured Indians that the situation in Ukraine was being closely monitored and asked them to stay connected to the Indian embassy’s Twitter and Facebook pages. What followed were a series of mistakes on the part of the embassy which led to a much bigger crisis.
From 25 January to 15 February, the Indian embassy in Ukraine did not issue a single directive for students. The number of tweets to the embassy for updates increased as by 12 February many other countries had evacuated most of their citizens. The students claimed that they received no response from the embassy to any of their queries. The next advisory notice came on 15 February, which stated that “students whose stay is not essential, may consider leaving temporarily”. The kind of tweets in the public domain after this communication included students requesting the embassy for direction regarding compulsory attendance in their universities and asking for help. Many were asking the embassy to highlight safe zones for students to move to in case things took a turn for the worse. However, none of these questions were answered by the Indian embassy and no safe zones were highlighted for the students.
Due to the pandemic, very few commercial flights were functioning between India and Ukraine. After repeated requests on 18 February, an Indian Airline, Air India, announced the operation of three commercial flights between 22 and 24 February from Ukraine to India. It was estimated that there were at least seventeen thousand students still in Ukraine and just three commercial flights were running before the invasion took place. By 21 February the embassy shared details of a few more flights that would be operating from 24 February to 6 March, however, these flights could not run as airspace was shut down on the 24 February. Hence, a large number of Indian students got trapped in Ukraine as the invasion unfolded.
The mismanagement of the government goes beyond the delay in arrangements and advice. Even after the attack, the embassy established helplines for students but did not give them direction regarding safe zones. Most of the Indian students were close to the eastern border of Ukraine in the cities of Kharkiv and Kyiv. Over the course of the next few days, students took shelter in basements of their college accommodation and hostels. They repeatedly reached out to the Indian embassy and finally by February 28, a student, Radhika from Kyiv, stated that an advisory was issued for students to reach their nearest railway station in Kyiv. However, upon arrival, they found that no arrangements for travel had been made by the government of India. No official was around, and all calls to the helpline number of the embassy went unanswered. When a train would come, Indian students were kicked out of them and were barred from boarding the train by the local Ukrainian population. Since then, students have spent lakhs of money to hire buses, and walked across the country to reach the western border of Ukraine. The delayed response of the Indian government has already led to the death of two Indian students in Ukraine.
A similar crisis had unfolded in Ukraine during the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The difference here was that the Indian embassy in Ukraine had managed to arrange trains and tickets for all students in Crimea to vacate the city and move towards Kyiv, in June 2014 itself. Therefore, the government had formulated and implemented its evacuation plan in advance of the attack.
RESPONSE BY THE GOVERNMENT
Under Operation Ganga by the Indian government, 3700 students have been brought back from Ukraine. As these flights landed in India, the airport saw politicians taking credit for the evacuation. The students were given flowers upon their arrival, but most of them shared bitter-sweet feelings. In an interview with NDTV, a student said that the government is trying to take credit for an evacuation with barely any transportation as students had to take the responsibility of reaching the western borders in the middle of a war, at their own risk. They had to walk for 30 to 40 km in freezing weather. They had to argue and get refuge in neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. In contrast, since 3 March, the government has been lauded for its efforts and determination in helping the students in Ukraine. The rescue operation has already been deemed a success, even though not all students have been evacuated yet.
The crisis for Indian students continues to be a battle. Some of them have managed to get out of Kharkiv and Kyiv, however, around 800 students are still stuck in Sumy city which is on the eastern border of Ukraine. When conducting research for this article, a student from Sumy State Medical college stated that there is constant shelling and bombings, buildings are catching fire, and there is a huge shortage of food. From 4 March, the water supply has been restricted in the university and students are now living without access to water and power. Most of them said that they are helplessly asking the Indian embassy for help, but are not getting any response. They are not being told if the students should stay in Sumy or work on a plan to move out of the city. The propaganda and misinformation are making matters much worse. Recently, around 3 March a Russian news report claimed that Russia has arranged for buses for Indian students from Sumy and Kharkiv, at the Russian border. At the same time, some Indian news reports claimed that Russia is giving a six-hour safe passage to Indian students to reach the western border of Ukraine. Instead of providing immediate clarification, the Indian government only offered clarification on this matter more than 24 hours later. With no access to resources, the students were left puzzled and contemplating if they should move towards the eastern border or the western.
Therefore, with the widespread misinformation compounded with the lack of communication by the Indian embassy, the situation for Indian students is worsening. The government informed the supreme court recently that close to 7000 students are still in Ukraine. These 7000 students still await an evacuation plan from the government of India.
Shubhangi Derhgawen is a research journalist with New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV). She is also pursuing her masters in Modern Indian Studies at the University of Göttingen, Germany.