Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin on Saturday spoke to Tamil students stranded in Ukraine and enquired about their well-being in the war-torn nation. He enquired about their safety and availability of drinking water and food.
In a video call, lasting for a few minutes, the Chief Minister assured the students that the government is in coordination with the Centre and taking steps to bring them back.
Speaking to students from Tiruchi who are stranded in Ukraine, Stalin said that he was disturbed on seeing the ongoing developments in that country.
However, a student who interacted with the Chief Minister, said that at present he and his friends are “safe” and “the area where they live is not under shelling”.
The Chief Minister, according to his office, told the student, “Be strong. The government is taking steps to bring you all back.”
The Chief Minister’s office has already started a helpline for the students stranded in Ukraine as well as their parents and relatives to communicate. A similar helpline is set up at the Tamil Nadu Bhawan in New Delhi.
According to information, more than 1,500 people have reached out to the Tamil Nadu government through the helpline since the crisis unfolded in Ukraine. There are around 3,500 students from different parts of the state in Ukraine with a majority being students.
There were reports that for evacuation, Indians have to reach the borders of Romania and Hungary and the first batch of evacuation is taking place from western Ukraine as other borders have already been sealed by the Russian forces.
Indian students are permitted to travel in vehicles up to borders by tying the national flag on their vehicles. On Saturday morning several Tamil students who were to catch a flight from Budapest complained that they were not allowed to cross the border.
Soumya Nathan, a third-year MBBS student in Ukraine, told IANS: “It is a tough situation and we are living in bunkers. Waiting to get back home and hope we will be supported by the Government of Tamil Nadu and Government of India to get evacuated from here.”
