From Basement, Indian Student In Ukraine Tells NDTV "Can Hear Bombings"

As Russian forces pressed ahead in Ukraine, thousands of Indian students waited to be moved to safety and posted SOS videos.

One of the videos emerged from the basement of a medical college in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.

The video was posted by Suminder, a student of the Kharkiv National Medical University.

"We are in the basement of hostel No 5 in Kharkiv. There are lots of students here. We are calling for urgent help," Suminder says, her phone camera capturing a room packed with students huddled together. 

"The Indian Embassy has told us they will move us to other countries but we are very close to Russia's border, so it is not possible. Please find a different solution. The government has to find a way of coming to us here and taking us to safety. Our families are really worried," she said.

Speaking to NDTV later, the student said she and the others hiding in the basement could hear continuous bombing outside.

"We are really close to the border. I hear explosions. We are not even going out," she said.

Nearly 16,000 Indians are stranded in Ukraine as Russian forces carry out an attack by land, air, and sea on the former Soviet republic. 

The government is trying to organise evacuation flights for Indians stuck in Ukraine from neighbouring countries. Teams are heading to Ukraine's borders with Hungary and Poland to try and bring back its citizens.

Ukraine shut its airspace shortly after Russia declared war on the country and launched an attack in major cities.

An Air India flight to Ukraine capital Kyiv made a u-turn and returned to Delhi yesterday.