‘Terrified, walking to Ukraine stations with Indian flag in hand’: Naveen’s friends tell News18

Naveen Gyanagoudar, a fourth-year medical student and a native of Karnataka, had gone out to buy groceries when the incident occurred. News18

The death of Naveen Shekhargouda Gyanagoudar in the Ukraine shelling on Tuesday has left the Indian student community terrified, forcing scores, who were housed in bunkers in Kharkhiv and Kyiv, to walk towards the closest train stations to travel to safer parts of Western Ukraine.

Amit Vaishyar was Naveen’s close friend and one of his nine roommates. When News18 called Amit’s parents in Haveri district of Karnataka, they had just spoken to their son on the phone. Amit was headed towards Kharkhiv station on foot, along with hundreds of other Indian students. Carrying the Indian flag in their hands, they are hoping to get help from the Indian embassy officials once they reach the train station.

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“We have asked Amit to keep us posted every hour. When he calls us or sends us a text message, we know that he is alive,” said Amit’s father Venkatesh over the phone from his home in Chalageri in Haveri district.

Several Indians students stranded in Ukraine have been in touch with their families in India. They were advised to stay put until the Indian government officials gave them the green light to leave their bunkers. However, after Naveen’s death, they are rushing to find the first available mode of transport out of Ukraine.

“At first, we had asked them to stay safe and follow the instructions of the government. But we can’t wait anymore. There was shelling right next to the bunker where Naveen and his friends were staying. They could be the next target. We asked them to leave immediately and head towards safer cities,” said Amit’s mother, Savita Vaishyar, speaking exclusively to News18 over the phone.

Another batchmate and Naveen’s friend, Srikanth, who was the last person to speak to the slain student, explained the situation on ground. Kharkhiv’s railway station is 6 km away from their residence.

“We have covered the distance on foot. There are only two trains, one at 10 am and another at 3 pm Ukraine time. We have to get into one of them. There is no other way. We just have to. I wish Naveen was with us,” he said, before disconnecting the call to save the battery on his phone to keep in touch with his family.

Faisal Kassim, another student, is leading a team of around 200 Indian students, mostly from Kerala, from their underground bunker in the Kharkhiv Medical University campus towards safety.

“We can’t stay there anymore. It is not safe for us. Not a single Indian official or embassy official came to help us. We received phone calls for a couple of days, but nothing after that. We have taken the risk and are now waiting for the train to take us to a safer place,” Faisal told News18.

When asked where the students were headed, Faisal pleaded over the phone: “We will go wherever it is safe, but we will not stay here anymore. We have been left to fend for ourselves. We are really scared. If you can do anything to highlight our plight, please do.”

Savita Vaishyar explained how she was impressed by the education facilities in Kharkhiv during her visit. Amit’s cousin, Suman, was one of the first from their village to go and study in Ukraine. When they heard positive feedback about Ukraine’s education system, they decided to send their son too.

“My son did very well in his PUC. He got nine per cent, but didn’t secure a seat in India. He had his exams scheduled on 24 May and was to come back home after completing his course in three months,” she said.

Parambath Abhinav landed on Indian soil at 10 am this morning. He was one of the 185 students who fled from Lviv on 25 February when shelling intensified in Ukraine.

Recalling his ordeal of crossing over to Poland from Ukraine, Abhinav said they were forced to pay close to 1,500 Ukrainian Hryvnia per head to get into a van that would take them to the Polish borders.

“They charged people anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 60,000 per van. We split the amount between us. We were 20 people in one vehicle, but 25 to 30 people were squeezed in other vehicles. We were first taken to the Rava-Ruska border, but the Ukrainian military turned us away. We then headed to the Shehyni, which was closer to Poland.”

Describing the situation at the Ukrainian-Polish border, the final-year MBBS student said there were thousands of people from all nationalities waiting to cross the border. However, a rumour that men would not be allowed until all women had crossed the border caused a huge commotion.

“A few Indians got really wild and upset. They started shaking the gates violently. They used abusive language and threatened the guards. That is when the Ukrainian military began kicking people and hitting them with guns and lathis,” Abhinav said.

He said the Ukrainian authorities allowed only four-five people across every hour.

“The process was slow and tedious. The temperature had dropped to minus 5 degrees and we were trying to stay warm by burning plastic bottles that were strewn around. Finally, after standing in the cold for more than 14 hours, on the night of 27 February, we managed to reach Poland. We then took a flight to India and were received by Union minister Smriti Irani ji. I haven’t smiled in so many days,” the medical student said, letting out a sigh of relief.

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