The relief was evident on their faces as they reunited with their parents on Sunday evening after spending days in a war zone, but the plight of friends still trapped in Ukraine and an uncertain academic future remain sources of worry for them.
''Our evacuation was relatively easier as our university is in the west of Ukraine. Still, it was a relief to cross over to Romania. But there are many students still stranded in eastern cities like Kharkiv who have taken refuge in bunkers,'' Arishma Harish, a fourth-year medical student of Bukovinian State Medical University (BSMU), said on her arrival at the Thiruvananthapuram airport where she was received with joyful hugs by her mother and grandmother.
Arishma was among the 25 medical students who arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on board two flights after fleeing war-hit Ukraine. Of the 25 youngsters, 23 were from the district, and two from neighbouring Kollam. Almost all of them are pursuing a medical degree at BSMU that is in the western city of Chernivtsi.
