Parents' nightmare ends as siblings return from Ukraine's Kharkiv

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, March 7

The unending wait for parents got over when two siblings returned from the war-torn Ukraine after a 10-day struggle.

Sukhman Kaur (22) and her brother Kirpaljot Singh (21) returned to Chandigarh on Sunday from Kharkiv, the second largest city of Ukraine, where the Russian forces have launched heavy bombardment since the invasion.

“On the morning of February 24 when bombings started taking place, I immediately called up my sister, boarded a train and ran into her at the Kharkiv metro station. We spent the entire night underground at the metro station in disquiet,” said Kirpaljot Singh, who was pursuing MBBS in VN Karazin Kharkiv National University.

“Just when the bombing was lifted, we got back home and hid in the bunker of the building where Ukrainians were already hiding. So, for six days continuously, we would run to the bunkers whenever a siren would play and during night, we would keep a complete blackout in our room. Our neighbours even accompanied us to the bomb shelters thrice,” said Sukhman Kaur.

However, the main hurdle for the siblings was getting out of Kharkiv amid the explosions. “We tried to board a train to Lviv on March 1 when the government released an advisory to leave Kharkiv under all circumstances. We were confronted with unprecedented racism at the railway station as Ukrainians did not allow Indians and Nigerians to board the train. Some of my friends were also pushed outside the train. We bribed the locals in the train with $100 to let us inside the train,” said Kaur. The siblings also braved intense cold weather with -5°C for 12 hours on the Poland border as they stood in a queue without any shelter. “The Ukrainians were also fleeing because of which there was a long queue to cover a distance of a km. Many girls fainted due to hypothermia while standing in the queue and were helped by sixth-year medical students,” she said.

“While we have left the city where we have spent four years for our safety, there is a guilt that consumes me as I have left people I have known for long. These were my teachers, my classmates and my neighbours,” said Singh.

“We have been told that the classes will remain suspended till March 31 by our teachers. The fate of our degree is uncertain,” he added.

Feeling relieved: Father

Fatehdeep Singh, father of the siblings and resident of Sector 12, said, “I am relieved now that both my children have returned. We have survived sleepless nights and there was nothing we could do except worry. Both have been the strength of each other. I am a proud father.”