48 hours and counting: Indian students at Poland border battle freezing cold with no help from any corner

Hundreds of Indian students in Ukraine have been stranded at the Poland border for more than 48 hours amid freezing cold with “no response from the Indian embassy” to their calls and messages.
The students, who have been thronging to the Shehyni-Medyka border foot since Friday hoping that they would be evacuated from Ukraine amidst the ongoing Russian invasion, describe the present situation at the border as “horrendous and insane” and said that Indians were not being allowed to cross over to Poland the authorities whereas Ukrainians were allowed.
The Embassy of India in Warsaw (Poland) had earlier issued an advisory asking students who want to be evacuated to reach the Shehyni-Medyka border foot or bus/taxi.
Spending freezing nights out in the open — in parks and on roads with temperature touching minus five degrees celsius in the night — the students are now burning trash to light bonfires and survive in the biting cold even as some have developed hypothermia.

An MBBS student from Ternopil who reached the border Saturday evening after walking for over 50 km told The Indian Express over phone: “There are just queues and queues of Indian students here but Polish authorities are not putting a stamp on our passports. They are allowing Ukrainians to cross over but not us. The situation here is horrendous, to say the least. The Indian embassy officials are not responding to our calls. No one is helping us… no one. Where should we go?”
She added that she reached the border after travelling in a bus from Ternopil for a few kilometres and then walking for over 50 km. “We are feeling like animals right now, lying amid filth on roads and burning trash to light a bonfire to save ourselves from biting cold.”

Another student said: “Most students slept in the open for the whole night, on parks and roads. Some were given shelter local Ukrainians but most had no option but to sleep in the open in this freezing cold. Why were we asked to come here the embassy when there were no arrangements yet to evacuate students via Poland. It is not easy to walk 30-50 km and then sleep in the open.”

Some students who reached the Polish border Saturday have now returned to their apartments or rooms in Lviv and Ternopil after witnessing chaos at the border. “We are now hiding in bunkers and basements whenever we hear bombing or siren sounds,” said a student who returned from the Poland border after waiting for over 30 hours there.
“Poland is not allowing any Indian students via Shehyni Medyka border and only allowing Ukraine citizens to Cross the border. The condition is very serious. There was firing of the military because of the total chaos,” tweeted a person whose ser is stranded at the border.

Some students also alleged that Ukrainian officials and military have now changed their attitude towards Indians as they believe that India lends its support to Russia in the conflict. “Locals are helpful but not Ukrainian military and officials. They are turning down Indians whereas people of other countries are being helped,” a student alleged.
Most students stranded at the Poland border have also run out of their phone batteries making it difficult for families to reach them.