Harrowing time for stranded students as mobile, internet services badly hit

Hyderabad: The continuous bombarding in the eastern parts of Ukraine by Russia has led to interruption in electricity and internet services. As a result, the students from Telangana, who have been stranded in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, are unable to contact their families as they are unable to charge their mobile phones or access the internet since Thursday night. This lack of communication is leaving their parents worried.

Communication services in the north side of Ukraine continued to be blocked on Friday with mobile internet suspended, and cellular network, landline and broadband connectivity down after the air raid sirens wailed over the city of 3 million people leaving the Telangana students unable to reach out to their family members and friends to send update about their safety.

After many calls and messages through internet for about eight hours, The Hans India was able to contact five medical students from Telangana who are now stranded in Ukraine. Shaik Abdullah, medical student and a native of Hyderabad, one more MBBS student, R Sri Nidhi, who is also in Kyiv and hails from Karimnagar and another student Vaitarani, a native of Karmanghat and two more students from the TS were contacted.

They said they were witnessing scary scenes and could not sleep with continuous sounds of bombs and missiles pounding the Ukraine's capital. All students demanded the State and the Central governments to arrange special flights for them.

Speaking to The Hans India, Shaik Abdullah, said, "In the eastern parts of Ukraine, telephone services, electricity and internet connection have been destroyed due to continuous bombing by the Russian army. In Kyiv, medical students are in a majority and the number of students from Telangana are likely to be about 2,500. After a much difficulty, I could spoke to my parents. But, most of them are unable to contact their family members." "I have been trying to gather information about my daughter's safety. After many hours, I could establish contact with her," said Ashok, father of Vaitarani. She later told The Hans India that there was no food and shelter for her and the ATMs have been suspended. She further added that even transport services were hit badly.

Another student, K Pavani said, "We are trying to arrange money to meet our needs here as they may shift us to bunkers or we may be crossing the border of Ukraine. Students are also facing tough times due to disruption of communication channels."

Another student from Ukraine, Sai Vardhan also expressed a similar view. He, however, stated that he was safe and would reach out to his family once he was moved to safety.