"Hope Kept Us Going": Students Evacuated From Ukraine's Sumy Back In India

The last group of 600 Indian students, who were evacuated from Sumy, arrived in India today on special flights under Operation Ganga.

The students were evacuated from the embattled Ukrainian city after Russia and Ukraine provided a humanitarian corridor for their exit following New Delhi's intense diplomatic engagement with the two sides.

While two of these flights landed at the Delhi Airport, the third flight arrived at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur received the students who returned from the first flight on Friday morning. Mr Thakur was seen offering flowers to students as they arrived.

The minister also tweeted a video saying, "welcome back home! Another batch of students returned via #OperationGanga this morning and will reunite with their families & friends. We remain committed to the safety of every Indian citizen from Ukraine."

The second flight landed at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad where Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar received the students.

One of the evacuees Varadhalakshmi also brought back her cat 'Lizonac' with her. "He is like a family member. He has been with me for the last 3 years. I just could not leave him behind," she told NDTV. On being asked about the problems she faced in Ukraine, she said , "We were the last to be evacuated. We witnessed blasts taking place in front of us. It was very stressful and scary. We kept calling our family members to assure them that we were doing fine. We would use our phones only to talk to them and then switch it off in order to conserve battery. I am very happy to be evacuated by the government finally."

Ashwin Sandhu, who is from Patiala, thanked the government and embassy officials for helping them get out of Ukraine. "Around 2500 of us were stuck in a hostel. Along with us Indians, Turkish students were also stuck. There was limited food for thousands of students. I am very thankful to the government and the embassy for all their efforts," she said.

Another student, who identified herself as Jisna Jiji from Thrissur in Kerala, said several students suffered breakdowns as they waited to be evacuated from the war-torn country. "We encouraged each other to not lose hope. Hope is the only thing that kept us going," Ms Jiji said.

"It was the toughest two weeks ever. I am a final year student and I will figure out later how I will finish my course...whether I can go back to Ukraine or continue my studies somewhere in India itself."