it was a hellish experience for Ritik Those trying to stay safe in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, just 50 miles from the Russian border, survived on minimal food and water, while bombs exploded barely meters from their bunkers.
However, he finally breathed a sigh of relief after reaching home in one piece in Tarsali area of Vadodara on Friday.
In a fortnight, Hrithik has seen it all – from civilians wielding guns on the streets in a war zone to lifeless bodies that witnessed constant gunfire and prolonged air raid sirens.
“Since the day, the Russian President Vladimir Putin Declared war on Ukraine, we were killed in second World War The Yug bunkers have no clue to return home. Tanks and Russian forces began to march inside Sumi, they replaced the Ukrainian flag with the Russian flag the same night and heavy shelling began,” recalls Hrithik.
As the days passed, students like Hrithik could not even use their cell phones between 5 pm and 7 am. Hrithik recalled, “A tiny flash of light will attract a sniper attack or an airstrike. Our hostel building will tremble with every bomb that explodes within a radius of 2 km.” Hrithik, of the last batch of students evacuated from Sumi as part of Operation Ganga, said, “We returned to our bunkers again. Calling the embassy started. We were asked to wait another 48 hours.”
After such a turbulent experience, when Hrithik along with other students from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Dubai finally left for Poltava in 16-17 buses, roads were damaged, Russian tanks were entering Sumi, Ukrainian civilians were armed with guns.
“After Sumi left, around 10-15 explosions took place, killing 70-80 people,” said Hrithik, who traveled for at least 60 hours from Sumi to Poltava. Poltava to Lviv On the train before taking off from Poland to Delhi and on the second train from Lviv to the Polish border.
Hrithik said, “We are grateful to the Indian government for finally getting us out of the battlefield. But we are equally grateful to the media, which put the government under pressure which ensured our safe evacuation.” school teacher.