KOLKATA: Russia's fresh assault on Ukraine has derailed plans of medical students from Bengal who were preparing to return to their Ukrainian institutes to complete studies that have been in a limbo since they fled the country after war broke out in February.
Several of these students had made arrangements to return to their campuses in Ukraine after the Centre informed the Supreme Court that current laws do not allow their admission in Indian medical colleges. The only option left for them now is to take transfer to another European country like Russia, Hungary, Poland or Georgia even at the cost repeating a year and shelling out double the money.
Following the escalation in Russian strikes, the Indian authorities have also issued an advisory to all its nationals "to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine" and to keep the embassy in Kyiv informed about the status of their presence in Ukraine.
"I had booked tickets to Moldova from New Delhi on October 24 and would have crossed over to Ukraine and start physical classes from the end of this month. But after the fresh attacks, I am rescheduling the ticket to November end. We also received an advisory from the Indian embassy in Ukraine cautioning us against travel and unnecessary movements within the country," said Neha Khan, a fourth-year student at Ivano Frankivsk University and a resident of Durgapur. Her classmates, booked on the same October 24 flight to Moldova, are also deferring their journey.
With the war escalating in Ukraine and the Indian embassy in Kyiv issuing an advisory against travel to the country, medical students who are enrolled in Ukraine universities have been forced to cancel or defer thei return trips. Howrah resident Mikhail Alam, a fourth-year student at Ivano Frankivsk University, was booked on a flight to Moldova on October 24 along with other classmates but is deferring his journey. “My future is doomed.
If we can’t return to Ukraine, the only option is to take a transfer to another country, which would be too expensive for me,” he said. Parnasree Das, another fourth-year student of Ternopil National Medical University who was to travel to Ukraine by the end of this month, is also rescheduling her return. “I have paid full semester fees and am attending online classes. But if I don’t attend the physical classes the semester classes won’t be considered valid.
But the situation over there has worsened and we can’t make the journey now,” she said. Rohan Mukherjee, a fourth-year student, has already taken transfer to Perm Medical University in Russia. He left for Moscow on Tuesday. “Ukraine is too dangerous at the moment. I can’t risk my son’s life and so he has taken a transfer to Russia even though we will be spending double of what we would have spent in Ukraine,” said his father Nirmalya Mukherjee, a resident of Salboni in West Midnapore.
Belda resident Ananya Paik, who was in her fourth year at Kyiv Medical University, has shifted to a Polish university where she will have to repeat the third year. “I will soon head for Poland and resume offline classes there. Ukraine is no longer a safe option,” she said.