Evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine’s Sumy delayed over security issue

This is the 12th day since Russia began a war against Ukraine leaving the Indian students stuck in Sumy State University completely draught.
On Sunday, the weary students were informed they may be evacuated on Monday. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine tweeted, “Team from Embassy of India is stationed in Poltava City to coordinate the safe passage of Indian students stranded in Sumy to Western borders via Poltava.Confirmed time & date will be issued soon. Indian students advised to be ready to leave on short notice.”

However, on Monday morning they were informed through a message circulated their coordinator Renish Joseph that the evacuation has been delayed at least one more day due to security reasons.
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The message from Joseph read, “We were just informed our government that “green corridor” for tomorrow is cancelled due to the non reached agreement with Russian Federation… The negotiations will be resumed tomorrow to assure the safety of the corridor and your logics to a safer area. We are very sorry for such news and keep hoping for tomorrow’s resolution.”
For days, the students have been living under fear and waking up to the sounds of explosions, shelling and gunfire. Amid the air raid sirens and subsequent electricity cuts, they have been running in and out of bunkers every day. Scanty food and water supply have added to their worries and many have said the worsening situation is gradually making them lose hope of getting out safely.

On Saturday, a huge group of students said through a video posted on social media that they has decided to walk to the Russian border. Within 90 minutes, the Minry of External Affairs informed them that all efforts are being made to evacuate them and urged them to stay put. The coordinator, Joseph, also took multiple measures to calm the students and mentally prepare them for a week’s haul while asking them to be ready for an evacuation.
Meanwhile, Russia said on Monday its forces will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities, including Sumy. The Russian Defence Minry said the corridors will be opened at 10 am Moscow time (700 GMT) from the capital Kyiv as well as Kharkiv and Sumy. According to Reuters, the minry said those who leave Kyiv will then be airlifted to Russia.