Visakhapatnam: With no communication in place, parents' hopes remain dashed

Visakhapatnam: Till now, parents of the students studying in Ukraine believed that their children would come back home safe sooner than later. But, with the communication lines getting severed from their wards studying at Zaporizhzhia State Medical University in Ukraine in Zaporizhia Oblast, their hopes remain dashed.

With power being conked off and charging in the mobile phones getting drained, parents in Visakhapatnam express concern over their wards' safety. "Last night, our daughter Bommu Venkata Padmavathi, who is studying MBBS final year, said that this would be her last call as there's a power shutdown in their locality. She is supposed to return to India in a few months after writing her final examinations.

But all of a sudden, the scenario has changed now as she got stuck in the war-torn country," says a worried Bommu Ramakrishna Reddy, who is working as a daily wage earner. He fulfilled his daughter's medical educational aspirations by mortgaging his property. However, before the condition became worse, Ramakrishna Reddy was quick enough to warn his daughter to stock up all the essential supplies.

"Till now, Padmavathi instilled confidence in us that nothing horrendous is going to happen to them. But last night, I heard a different tone when she contacted us," adds the father. As the communication with his daughter came to an end, Ramakrishna Reddy tried contacting the university staff to keep a tab on his daughter's status. "Though the university officials keep following quite closely for collecting the term fee, they failed to respond to our calls," rues the father. Two days back, the embassy officials insisted upon the students to reach the border by making their own arrangements.

But now, an alert has been issued not to move out of their place until further instructions are given. Telugu students studying in Zaporizhzhia State Medical University and other institutions say that even to reach the border, the embassy officials mentioned that a transport facility would be arranged. Meanwhile, keeping the increasing Russian attacks in various cities across Ukraine, the Indian embassy issued a fresh advisory asking the nationals staying in the eastern part of Ukraine to continue to remain in their current places and stay indoors as much as possible.

"All those currently in the eastern sector are requested to continue to remain in their current locations until further instructions and maintain calm with whatever food, water and amenities available," the embassy stated and laid emphasis on avoiding unnecessary movement. Also, it asked all Indians not to move to any border point without prior coordination with the officials concerned. With the situation in crisis-hit Ukraine changing with each passing day, parents back in Visakhapatnam plead to the embassy officials to make all possible efforts to help evacuate their wards from the country at the earliest.