Trauma of ongoing war haunts Ukraine-returned med students

CHENNAI: Gopi Kumar (21) woke up to an ear-splitting noise of car sirens and bomb blasts at 5 am on February 26. Struggling to make sense of the situation, he, along with his roommates, went out of their apartment located in Kharkiv — only to see more people on the road looking confused and anxious.

Gopi, who is completing his second year at Kharkiv National Medical University, had been living in an apartment with two college juniors for over two years. Though Gopi managed to escape from Ukraine, he tells DT Next that he did not reveal his struggles to his parents.

“I was terrified, but we had to keep ourselves safe. On the morning of February 26, when we watched the news, we knew Russia had announced war on Ukraine. Soon, the college announced temporary offline classes,” recalls Gopi.

Understanding dawned, and pressure from parents in Chennai, made Gopi book a return flight to India. But, due to unprecedented circumstances, he could not board the flight. “My apartment in Ukraine was near 23 Sertnia, which is a military base. Due to this, we often heard missiles and heavy military vehicles passing by, which caused more panic among students. It was horrible,” he shudders.

After the Ukraine government and Indian Embassy asked the public to hide in safe spaces and bunkers on February 27, Gopi struggled to keep sane through the war.

“Bunkers under every apartment were not maintained properly. Hence there was no electricity supply. In the bunker I stayed, there was animal carcass and leakage from pipelines. But considering I stayed on the ground floor of the building, I moved to bunkers only when I heard blasts,” narrates Gopi.

Gowtham, a fourth-year student at Kharkiv National Medical University, said they managed to get by only because they were together and living in apartments.

“We took money from the ATMs nearby and purchased essentials for Rs 25,000. We cooked the food at my friend’s room and brought it for others in the bunker. We somehow managed those days in the dark,” Gowtham avers.

Gowtham and Gopi claim that students living in hostels faced the worst, as their seniors were trying to keep others safe.

“A friend of mine from Nagercoil was doing her first year medical at Kharkiv. Her seniors in the hostel barely allowed them to move out of the bunkers for two whole days. They lived through fear and trauma more than others,” adds Gopi.