When THE WEEK got in touch with Rupam Mondal over phone at 1pm in Kharkiv, Ukraine, he said, “We are in a bunker below our flat. Many in the neighbourhood have taken refuge here.
Mondal is just one of the thousands of Indians stranded in Ukraine in the midst of the invasion of the country by Russia.
The fear in his voice was palpable. “It’s extremely cold outside – around -3 degree Celsius. We can hear bombs and missiles exploding above us,” the fourth-year medical student at the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine, said.
He is unsure what lies ahead for those in the bunker and others outside stranded like him.
“We don’t know how we can get out of this battlefield and return home. The Indian embassy is in touch, but there is no news on how and when they will be able to evacuate us. Our family members are panicking; we are trying to keep in touch with them.”
And what about food? “We are currently managing with the food we bought four days ago as part of our regular weekly shopping. But we don’t know how long it will last.
“There used to be four Indian students here, but now more students have come from nearby places as well. The small bunker is full,” he added.
“I never imagined when I came to study in 2018 that I would have to go through such misery,” Mondal said.
