Three medical students from Odisha studying in Ukraine were lucky as they got their tickets online and left Kyiv the night before Russia invaded the country.
All of them are third-year medical students at the V N Karazin Kharkiv National University and were residing in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, which is near the Russian border.
When the Indian embassy advised all Indian nationals to leave Ukraine amid high level tension and uncertainties, they desperately tried to leave the country. They were lucky to get the tickets online.
Before Adarsha Patra and Biswanmber Badatya from Berhampur, and Mihir Ranjan Dalai of Puri left Ukraine, everything was normal in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
"Though the people were in panic when Russian soldiers were at the borders, they didn't expect such type of an attack," Badatya said.
The three students left Kharkiv and boarded a flight from Kyiv around 9 pm on Wednesday night.
The Russian invasion began on Thursday as President Vladimir Putin announced a major military operation in response to threats emanating from the neighbouring country, drawing widespread condemnation and sanctions from several countries.
"During our stay at Doha, we came to know about the Russian attack," Adarsha Patra said.
They got to know that the airspace in Kyiv was shut down. Kharkiv saw heavy street fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces on Sunday.
After staying in Doha for about 18-hours, they travelled to Mumbai and then Bhubaneswar before reaching their hometowns. Family members of the three were anxious about their safety after the Russian offensive. They heaved a sigh of relief as they reached home on Friday night.
"We thanked God. Our son has reached safely," said Lachamaya Patra, father of Adarsha Patra.
The 21-year-old does not know the condition of others who were staying with them in the flat. "During our journey, we have not faced any problem. Perhaps, we are the last Indian civilians to leave from Kyiv through Doha," a relieved Badatya said from home.
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