Sumy students take train to Poland border

Indian students who were stranded in Sumy on a special train to western Ukraine on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

The last big group of about 700 Indian students evacuated from the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Wednesday boarded a special train from Poltava and are likely to board a flight to India from Poland on Thursday.

The train was to take them to Lviv in western Ukraine, from where they would be taken to Poland on buses, Anshad Ali, a student coordinator, said. The distance between Poltava and Lviv is around 888 km. Lviv is located about 50 km from the Poland border.

Covering hundreds of miles across Ukraine, using multiple means of transport, the students are being evacuated from the war-hit east European country after their two weeks of excruciating stay in beleaguered Sumy.

The Indian nationals were taken from Sumy in a convoy of 13 buses escorted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Poltava city, Ali said.
Jisna Jiji, a 25-year-old medical student, said, "We are tired but happy. We are travelling since Tuesday morning and have to travel for several more hours but now, we have hope that we will reach home safely."

For two weeks, the Indian students in Sumy waged a doughty battle in bomb shelters and basements of their hostels in frigid weather, low on food, drinking water and other essential supplies, as Russian forces clobbered the city with rockets and heavy gunfire.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine has issued an advisory, urging all stranded Indian nationals to make use of the "humanitarian corridor" and leave the country using trains, vehicles or any other available means of transport, keeping in mind their safety.

888
Distance in km from Poltava to Lviv

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