'Let Us Study in Indian Medical Colleges,' Say Ukraine-Return Indian Students

Producer: Varsha Rani

Video Editor: Harpal Rawat

With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, thousands of Indian medical students were forced to leave Ukraine. This resulted in students leaving their universities and studies in between. From the last two months, they have been attending online classes.

Mansi Thakur, a student from Bukovinian State Medical University, who was evacuated from Ukraine, says, "Every day we wake up with a lot of uncertainty because we don’t know what is going to happen. Our parents are worried, we are worried for our future. Every passing day, it’s becoming more difficult for us. We want to fulfill our dreams, we want to become doctors."

She further says that she went to Ukraine with a dream. "We did not ask for war, circumstances became such," she said.

Harshita Sharma, a medical student from Uzhhorod National University, echoes a similar sentiments.

"We returned to India more than a month ago due to the current circumstances. Our classes are being conducted online but as a medical student, it is very difficult studying online since it requires a lot of clinical and practical knowledge. We’re trying our best to keep up with everything but it's getting difficult day by day."

Harshita Sharma, Student

A first-year MBBS student Harshita further adds, "We have cleared our NEET exams and are eligible to be good doctors given the chance to study. The situation we came from was scary and we wouldn’t want to go back to that."

Harsh Goel, a student from Ivanko Frankivsk National Medical University who returned to India from Ukraine, mentions that their classes are often disrupted due to air sirens. Harsh says, "Our classes are going fine, but sometimes there are air sirens and the teachers have to move to bunkers and because of this, our classes are disrupted. Some of the students are facing issues with fees and they are not being permitted in the classes."

With so much uncertainty around them, students are not mentally prepared to look for other options. "It’s been more than two months but the war is still on. All of this has added to the uncertainty over our future. We are not mentally prepared to try and look into other options now," added Goel.

Students Request the Indian Government

Kshitiz Sood has a request for the government of India. "We just want to request the Indian government to accommodate the students who have returned from Ukraine to Indian medical colleges. It would be of great help as it will provide some certainty to their future."

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