Many Indian students hesitant to leave Ukraine, embassy again advises them to leave

Even as India advised its citizens studying in Ukraine to leave the East European nation temporarily, many of them appear to be in dilemma as uncertainty looms large over their future with the institutions not guaranteeing continuation of online classes.

Hours after Russia moved to deploy troops in Donetsk and Luhansk regions after declaring the two breakaway enclaves of Ukraine as independent republics, the Embassy of India in Kyiv once again advised Indians studying in medical colleges and other academic institutions in the East European nations to leave temporarily “in the interest of their own safety” – without waiting for confirmation on continuation of classes online.

India had on Sunday asked its citizens studying in the educational institutions in Ukraine to leave the country temporarily in view of the “continued high level of tension and uncertainties”.

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But many of nearly 18,000 Indians studying in Ukrainian medical colleges and other educational institutions appeared to be hesitant to leave.

After the Embassy of India in Kyiv posted its advisory on its page on Facebook, one of the students, Dev Rana, replied, pointing out that the authorities of the universities had not yet confirmed if they would continue online classes. Rana requested the embassy to discuss the issue with Ukrainian Government to ensure continuation of classes online for the rest of the ongoing semester. Ashif, another student, also has similar concern. “Also talk to the University and Ukrainian Government that they also give us a clear and official statement so that it’s easy for the students to go to their home, India,” he wrote in reply to the advisory by the Embassy of India in Kyiv.

The Embassy of India in Kyiv stated that it was “engaged with respective authorities” in Ukraine for streamlining of the education process for Indian students. “Students are advised in the interest of their safety to leave Ukraine temporarily, rather than wait for an official confirmation from universities,” it stated in its latest advisory issued on Tuesday.

A number of Indian students in Ukraine also appear to be in dilemma in view of very high air fares between Kyiv and New Delhi. One of them, Abhishek Thakur, replied to a tweet by the Embassy of India in Kyiv, stating that the air fare was almost Rs 60000 which was almost equal to the fees for one semester in the institutions in Ukraine. He stated that many students could not afford to pay so much for air fare to return to India.

The Government of India has not yet decided to deploy special aircraft to evacuate Indians from Ukraine. Indians were rather advised to avail commercial flights or charter flights to leave the East European nations.

An Air India Boeing 787 aircraft with more than 240 passengers from Ukraine departed from Kyiv for New Delhi on Tuesday.

The Air India will operate two more flights between Kyiv and New Delhi on February 24 and 26.

The Ukraine International airlines will also operate additional flights between Kyiv and New Delhi on February 25 and 27 and March 6, the Embassy of India in the capital of Ukraine posted on Facebook.

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