Pakyong: Avishkar Sharma, a second year medical student from Vinnitsya National Medical University, in Vinnitsya, Ukraine, arrived at Pakyong airport in Sikkim safe and sound.
Avishkar had reached Delhi on February 24, when the tensions were still at the borders of Ukraine and the bombings hadn’t yet started. The Majhitar resident was received by his parents and a host of other government officials at the airport.
Unlike the many students who are being brought home safely to India, Avishkar made it back home without much assistance from the state government. He had reached Delhi on the very last flight from Ukraine along with 4 other Indian students. It was only a day of two later that the state government started initiating the process for evacuation of medical students from war-torn Ukraine.
However, the Sikkim government has promised Avishkar and his parents that all the expenses borne by them will be reimbursed by the state government. Avishkar’s family spent Rs 50,000 in getting him back home to safety.
The Sikkim student was set to complete his second year of medical college in May 2022.
Recalling his stay in Ukraine, he shared, “Ukraine is a peaceful country and the people over there are peace loving and stick to their works. Our teachers were also very helpful when we were there when the war started. It was unpredictable that Russia would start a war. When I left Ukraine there was not so much of bombing. I heard my friends from India were kept in bunkers for safety before their return to India. I was lucky that I returned home on the last flight from Ukraine, but I was worried about my friends, and I was in constant contact with them.”
Speaking to EastMojo about other students like him, he said, “I am happy to learn that today morning they have reached Romanian border and I am thankful to the Indian Embassy for looking after them. Probably they will have their flight back to India by today.”
“There are many Indian students studying in Ukraine but I was the lone student in my college from Sikkim. We were aware of the Indian government notice about leaving the country but it wasn’t a firm notice. And Russia had also not attacked Ukraine. There was only some tension in Luhansk and Donetsk, which are the border states,” Avishkar said.
On his escape from Ukraine, the 20-year-old student shared, “On February 21, when I was laying on bed, a strong statement came from Russia that if Ukraine does not consider Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states then it will attack them. My friend woke me up and asked us to book tickets back to India. But as the month was nearing its end, I did not have enough money to book my ticket. Luckily, my friend Abishek from Bihar had money for fees but he instead spent it to buy tickets for four of us.”
“We got tickets for February 25 but sadly it was cancelled. There were no postponement of the tickets but one could board a flight earlier. So we changed our date to February 23 and luckily our fight was the last one out before Ukraine was declared a no-fly zone,” he said.
Expressing his gratitude to the state government, he said, “I am thankful to the state government that all my traveling expenses will be reimbursed. I am really thankful to Chief Minister PS Tamang who has helped me in such a situation. And I am hopeful that he will help bring back many Sikkimese students who are stuck in Ukraine. My dream is to serve the state as a doctor. But looking at the situation, many dreams are at stake.”
Avishkar’s father Bhim Sharma said, “I am thankful to the state government that I have been given assurance that all of my son’s travelling expenses from Ukraine to back home will be borne by the state government. The fare from Ukraine was double during the last hours but money is nothing; my son is back home which is great. Only worry is whether he will be able to complete his course or not at Ukraine. But I am hopeful that our present government and our chief minister, by thinking of him as his own child, will do the needful for his studies.”
Also read: Good to be back: Indians evacuated from Ukraine heave sigh of relief