On regular days, flight tickets from Ukraine to India would cost about Rs 21,000 to Rs 26,000. But due to mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the flight fare has risen up to Rs 70,000. This is why though the Ministry of External Affairs issued an advisory asking Indians to leave Ukraine, students are unwilling to.
"Travel agents are exploiting the situation to mint money. We don't have so much money. The news of this Russian-Ukraine conflict actually gave them an opportunity to push flight ticket booking charges citing the troubled situation over here, what can we do? We cannot afford this," said a medical student at Ukrainian capital Kyiv to the media, as per a report in IANS.
Another medical student said that the embassy has issued an advisory, but hasn't answered the question of how they are supposed to leave the country.
Over 18,000 — that's how many students are currently studying in Ukraine and mostly, they are in the field of medicine. Even those who are professionals mostly work in fields like pharmaceuticals, medicine, engineering, IT, education and so on, stated a report in IANS.
Many parents and associations back in India are approaching the government for help and the safe return of their children. Meanwhile, helplines and email IDs have been activated by the Ministry of External Affairs so that whenever need be, the embassy can be contacted.
Due to military build-up at the borders, Ukraine is on the verge of a war with Russia. Even the US has issued a warning that at any point, Russia can invade Ukraine. But in the last two days, the situation has de-escalated at the Russia-Ukraine border.
