Students and workers from India, along with a large number of people from other countries, were marching on Wednesday in Kharkiv in war-ravaged Ukraine towards the nearest railway station risking their lives holding the Indian national flag, the father of one student said. “About 1,000 people, including 700 Indians, are marching towards the railway station holding the Indian flag. They are going to the railway station, which is seven kilometres from their bunker, by foot as no vehicles are available,” Venkatesh Vaishyar told PTI.

Venkatesh’s son Amit, 23, is a fifth-year medical student in Kharkiv Medical College. He is among three students from Chalageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district studying MBBS in Kharkiv Medical College. Amit’s cousin Suman, 24, son of Sridhar Murthy Vaishyar, is also a student there and both of them are trying to return from the strife-torn country.