Shubhanshu, an Indian student who came from Ukraine, with his mother in Delhi
A mother and her son hug each other after he walked out of the arrival terminal at Delhi airport. The teen, Shubhanshu, arrived from conflict-hit Ukraine in an evacuation flight.
"It was like hell," the student told NDTV outside Delhi airport, on a day an Indian student lost his life when Russian soldiers blew up a Ukrainian government building in the east European nation's second-biggest city Kharkiv.
Shubhanshu narrated the long journey he and hundreds of Indian students made to reach the Romanian border and the difficulties they faced as they desperately tried to get out of Ukraine to neighbouring countries, from where they would be flown to India.
"We travelled from Vinnytsia to the border. The journey was uneventful. Our contractors arranged buses. We reached the border safely, though we had to walk some 12 km. But walking was not the problem. The problem was crossing the Romanian border. It had become impossible to cross the border," Shubhanshu told NDTV.
Vinnytsia is 270 km from the capital Kyiv, where Russian and Ukrainian forces are engaged in street battles.
"Students were crying, I saw, and begging to be allowed to cross the border. Some fainted, fell on their feet. Some of the students ended up fighting among themselves, saying 'Let me go first, let me go first'. I didn't face any violence, but saw it happening," Shubhanshu said, adding some Ukrainian troops kicked the students.
"Some students were hit with rifle stock...The situation had gone very bad. They weren't preferring us. When the border gates opened, they would let in Ukrainians first. But once we crossed the border, the Indian embassy took care of us well. We faced no problem after that," Shubhanshu said.
"Everything went smoothly after that. We got food and water. Some of my friends are still in shelter and they are like five-star accommodation, very good. But the situation was bad in the Romanian border," the Delhi resident told NDTV.
Indian students in Ukraine said they faced difficulties in reaching the border
Around 16,000 Indian students are still stranded in Ukraine. Many have shared photos and videos on social media from underground bunkers, metro stations and bomb shelters, where they have been hiding since the Russian attack started last Thursday. Around 9,000 Indian nationals have left by various special flights.
Many parents who came to the airport to receive their children expressed relief.
For Jainendra Kumar, a resident of Motihari in Bihar, the last few days were beyond his worst nightmares as both his son and daughter were stuck in Ukraine.
His daughter, 21-year-old Prachi, studied MBBS at a university in Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, along with her brother. She got separated from him yesterday while trying to cross the border into Romania.
She managed to get on a flight to Delhi and came back, but her brother was left behind. Finally, Mr Kumar's 22-year-old son Vidyansh also returned from the Romanian capital Bucharest.
"Our family has been in Delhi for the last nine days since the conflict began. I have had sleepless nights ever since because my kids were stuck in Ukraine. It was all very stressful. The kids were stuck and struggled to reach the border. But finally, the government helped after they crossed over into Romania," Jainendra Kumar told NDTV.
Russian forces have been shelling Kyiv and Kharkiv and other cities in Ukraine
Another parent, Jasleen Malhotra, had been waiting since 9 am at the airport. When her daughter, 22-year-old Simran finally arrived five hours later at 2 pm, the two hugged and held each other for several minutes.
"I am just so relived to finally have her back here. The last few days have been the toughest we have ever been through," Ms Malhotra told NDTV.
Simran told NDTV, "It was snowing at the Romania border. The temperature was minus 12 degree Celsius. There was no food and water. No shelter. Nothing. There were no Indian embassy officials on this side of the border because I think they were not allowed. It is only when we passed into Romania that we met Indian officials who helped us get back to India."