By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 4 Mar: Utkarsh Shukla, a fourth-year medical student, was stranded in Ukraine amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Yesterday, Utkarsh safely reached his home in Rudraprayag because of the Government’s evacuation mission.
Utkarsh was delighted and thanked the Almighty that he could come back safely to India, when we spoke to him. Utkarsh belongs to a family of doctors. Both, his father and brother are doctors. 
Since childhood, Utkarsh dreamt of becoming a doctor. He is a student of Zaporizhzhya State Medical University, which offers medical education at an affordable fee.
“My college is around 300-400 kms away from the Russian border. When the war started in Kyiv which is around 500 km from my city, we bought all the essentials as we grew afraid that our city could also turn into a war zone at any given point. Right on the third day of war, shelling started in my city, Zaporizhzhya, and we stayed in safety bunkers thereafter,” reveals Utkarsh.
“We were quite hopeful that the Indian government would evacuate us and bring us back to India,” said Utkarsh. Utkarsh reached the Ukraine border by train then he was airlifted from Hungary. “Travel arrangements and accommodation provided till I reached India were fantastic.”
“In Ukraine, vehicles with Indian flags attached to them were allowed to move swiftly without any checking. That’s India’s goodwill and I witnessed it,” said Utkarsh. “But the situation in Ukraine is heart-wrenching. I am scared for my fellow Ukrainian friends and teachers over there who are still in the warzone.”
