Chennai, Feb 22 (BPNS)
Parents of children who are studying in Ukraine for medicine and engineering courses are worried over the heightened crisis with Russian troop movement near the Ukrainian borders.
Tamil Selvam, Teynampet, Chennai while speaking to BPNS said, “ My daughter Saranya is a third year student of Medicine at Keiv Medical college and I am worried over daily reports on the possibility of a Russian attack over Ukraine. While my daughter said that things are normal at Keiv and in other parts of Ukraine, we are worried over her safety.”
In Coimbatore and Madurai also parents are worried over the escalation in tensions at the Ukrainian borders. The Russian president Vladamir Putin has declared Doenstk and Lugansk, provinces in Ukraine, as independent countries and this, according to international experts is a possibility of Russia entering into war against Ukraine.
Mukunadarajan, a businessman at Sai Baba Colony, Coimbatore whose son Adityan is a student of Aero Space engineering at Keiv university while speaking to BPNS said, “ I am really worried. We are contacting the Indian embassy but they are washing off their hands stating that they have already issued the advisory to go back to India. However flights are charging exorbitantly and I have asked my son to try and get into a chartered flight and come back home.”
While the flight charges were anywhere between 25000 to 35000 from Ukraine to Chennai the charges have now increased more than double. Several students who are doing their final year in MBBS are not in a position to travel to India as exams are being conducted and universities like Kiev Medical University are not postponing the exam dates.
Sujatha Rajagopal, a bank officer whose daughter Swapna. R is a final year MBBS student at Vinnytsia National University in Ukraine is tense as her daughter’s examinations are on and the university is not changing the dates.
While speaking to BPNS, Sujatha said, “ I have asked her to give a request to the university along with all her classmates and allow either online examinations or to postpone. I have asked her to come back home at the earliest paying whatever the price may be for flight tickets. At least the Government of India has increased the number of flights and the possibility of getting flight tickets now are high and my daughter will definitely come back.”
Parents of students who are studying in Ukraine are coordinating among themselves and trying to arrange tickets through some travel agents and if tickets are not possible, have contacted flight companies who provide chartered flights.
