'I've seen things I never imagined': UAE-based student tells of escape from Ukraine

Nikihila Liz Aby speaks of the horrors of war and the worst days of her life

Nikihila pictured with fellow students at her university in Ukraine. She fears some have not managed to escape. Photo: Nikihila Liz Aby

A Sharjah student has spoken of how she walked tens of kilometres in zero degrees without food and water to escape the war in Ukraine.

Nikihila Liz Aby, 20, from India recalled her harrowing escape from Ukraine after "the worst six days of her life".

The second-year medical student at the Danylo Halytsky Medical University in western Ukraine, which is less than two hours from Poland, said she had never seen so much suffering in her life.

When the bombings started on February 24, Ms Aby said she and hundreds of other students assumed crossing the border would be simple, but it turned out to be the most traumatic experience of her life.

There were no cars. Everyone was out on the roads trying to escape. The ATMs were not working... supermarkets had no supplies. I realised that no one would be rescuing us

Nikihila Liz Aby

The next day, with whatever belongings she could carry, Ms Aby and her friends boarded a bus to Poland.

“I have seen things that I have never imagined seeing in my life. We waited for hours for the bus. They were full of pregnant women, children and refugees," she said.

But they were dropped halfway and were told to walk to the border.

With no other option, Ms Aby and her friends walked 10km in a desperate bid to cross over to Poland. But, as luck would have it, they reached the wrong checkpoint and officers turned them away.

They again walked 10km in frosty conditions without food to go back to the place they tried to escape from.

A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

An apartment building damaged after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

A woman puts her head in her hands as she sits on a cot in a shelter, set up for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine, inside a school gymnasium in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo

Belarussian and suspected Russian helicopters on the flight line at Machulishchy Air Base outside Minsk, Belarus. AP Photo

Children look on as people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine shelter in a school, in Drohobych, Ukraine. Reuters

Families eat in the shelter. Reuters

A woman looks out from a building damaged by Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, 100 kilometres away from Odesa, western Ukraine. AFP

A wounded Ukrainian man waits in the corridor of the central hospital of Mykolaiv. AFP

An elderly woman is carried in a shopping cart after being rescued from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

A woman reacts as a train carrying children from Kyiv's Central Children's Hospital leaves the Ukrainian capital on its way to Lviv. Reuters

A girl sits in an improvised bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair after being rescued from Irpin. AP

Belarusian volunteers take part in military exercises at the Belarusian Company base in Kyiv. AP

Lessa, left, director of a nursery school turned into a refugee shelter, cries as she hugs Olega, who arrived from Kyiv with her baby, near Lviv. EPA

Ukrainians pass a damaged bridge as they flee from Irpin. AP

A man carries an elderly woman as people continue to leave Irpin. AP

A soldier stands on a barricade made of sandbags in central Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters

A charred Russian tank and captured tanks in the Sumy region. Reuters

People rest at a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees in Przemysl, Poland. AFP

Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands, Maksym Kononenko, third right, and his wife Tetiana Doroshenko, fourth left, attend a meeting of members of the Ukrainian community with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, third left, and Queen Maxima, second left, to discuss the situation in Ukraine, in The Hague. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier looks at the destruction after shelling in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. AFP

A refugee holds her dog as they wait for trains to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters

A woman ties ribbons in Ukrainian national flag colours in a girl's hair as people wait at a refugee assistance centre in Prague, Czech Republic. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier carries an elderly woman crossing the Irpin river on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Lena, who had never left Ukraine before fleeing into Moldova, feeds Dasha, 3, soon after crossing the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Refugees without immediate plans to move further inland can stay the night in tents set up on Moldova's side of the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Tatiana and her son wait for a van that will carry them from the Moldovan border to Chisinau. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Each night, the Palanca refugee camp in Moldova feeds up to 300 people who arrive with no onward plans. Erin Clare Brown for The National

People pass a damaged bridge while fleeing the town of Irpin, close to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. AP

A Ukrainian soldier stands guard next to a church in Irpin. EPA

A firefighter holds the baby of a Ukrainian refugee at the border in Romania. AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in Kyiv. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier at a checkpoint in Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian activist Ihor Mazur, left, a veteran of the war in the country's east, looks at a night-vision device in Kyiv. AP

Ambassadors attend a UN Security Council meeting on threats to international security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in New York. Reuters

Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya holds a paper with an image of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as he addresses the Security Council in New York. Reuters

A road sign put up in support of Mr Zelenskyy outside Russia's embassy in Washington. AFP

Ukrainian refugees at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine. EPA

Lethal and non-lethal Ukrainian aid is loaded on to a plane bound for Poland by Canadian soldiers in Trenton, Ontario. Reuters

Volunteers carry medical aid and necessities at a train station in Lviv. EPA

Everton players wear T-shirts in support of Ukraine as they warm up for an English Premier League football match against Tottenham Hotspur. AP

A residential building damaged by Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A man walks past a checkpoint in heavy snow in Lviv. Getty

A man fleeing fighting in Irpin waits to cross a river after Russian forces entered the city. Getty

Soldiers assist Irpin residents underneath a damaged bridge as they flee. Getty

Ukrainian civilians who volunteered to join the Territorial Defence Forces take part in a training exercise in Odesa after Russia's invasion. Reuters

Men carry a body to a lorry as people flee from the frontline town of Irpin. EPA

A Ukrainian police officer runs with a child as the sound of shelling echoes nearby in Irpin. AP

Parents and children struggle to board a train in Lviv. AP

“There were no cars, we just had to walk all the way back. Everyone was out on the roads trying to escape. The ATMs were not working, banks were closed and supermarkets had no supplies,” she said.

“I realised that no one would be rescuing us and we had to find a way across the border.”

A few days later, on February 28, charity groups and friends organised another bus that would take Ms Aby and her friends to the border.

It was due to arrive at 10am.

The bus was delayed and Ms Aby counted each minute. It finally reached at 6pm. In the span of eight hours, Ms Aby had lost all hope to ever get out of Ukraine and see her loved ones.

"But when the bus reached, I saw pregnant women, crying babies, and so many children and parents trying to board,” she said. There were too many people and very few seats.

Ms Aby did not get on the bus. She said she could not as there were far more desperate people who needed to get out first.

Home to Sharjah via Poland and India

Then another bus arrived but that was only for first-year students. Tired and weary, Ms Aby went back to a deserted hostel in her university. She had not eaten or slept for two days but lived in the hope of staying alive.

“In such situations, it is hard to sleep or to think of food. I wouldn’t drink a lot of water because I knew that I would either be walking or waiting for hours and there were no toilets around. Food was the last thing on my mind,” she said.

But there was hope. She heard of a new border opening in Budomierz, Poland, and got on a minibus to take her across on March 1.

Ms Aby said she received a frantic call from her father at 4pm, just before getting on the bus. “He was so tense and told me to find a way to cross the border. I had to board that bus,” she said.

“The driver was god-sent and in no time we were in Poland. It was such a blessing and I am so grateful to the driver who took us across."

Once in Poland, Ms Aby was taken to a hotel shelter arranged by the Indian mission in Poland. The next day, she boarded a plane to India and then flew to Sharjah on March 3.

"I have seen so much pain and despair caused by the war, but I also saw so much humanity and hope in Ukraine," she said.

"People helped us when their houses had burned to the ground. I have never seen so much goodness and wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes."

Ms Aby's studies are on hold. “I don’t think I will be going back to Europe or anywhere else anytime soon," she said.

For now, she is just happy to be home.

Artists show solidarity with Ukraine — in pictures

Graffiti depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holding a bullet-ridden 'Stop' sign by urban artist Tvboy appeared on a street in downtown Barcelona, Spain. EPA

A painting on a wall near the Russian embassy in Rome, by street artist Laika 1954, shows Russian and Ukrainian tanks making the peace symbol. AFP

A mural painted by Syrian artists in the rebel-held town of Binnish in Syria's Idlib province to protest against Russia's military operation in Ukraine. AFP

An Indian artist draws a poster during a protest in Kolkata. EPA

Artists helped to recreate 'A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace' by the late Ukrainian painter Maria Prymachenko. The artist had 25 paintings in the Ivankiv Local Museum of History, near Kyiv, which was destroyed by Russian forces. EPA

Maria Prymachenko was celebrated for her folk art. EPA

A woman walks past a tank sculpture painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag by Czech artist David Cerny in Prague. AFP

A man takes a picture of a fresco by street artist Seth globepainter depicting a girl with a Ukrainian flag walking on tanks in Paris. AFP

A street art painting by French artist Emyart dedicated to the Ukranian people. AFP

A street art painting created by French street artist Kelu Abstract in Paris. AFP

An Indian artist makes a sand sculpture calling for peace on Juhu beach in Mumbai. AP

An installation by street artist Gregos representing a face in the colors of Ukraine's flag and holding a symbol of peace, in Paris. AFP

Street artist MyDogSighs's mural in Northcote Lane, Cardiff of a weeping eye in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. PA

Kosovo artist Alkent Pozhegu works on the final touches of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's portrait made with grains and seeds, in Gjakova, southwestern Kosovo. AFP

A peace mural showing a dove with a branch in Ukrainian colours by artist Justus Becker is painted on the wall of a house in Frankfurt, Germany. AP

A woman passes a mural by Berlin street artist Eme Freethinker featuring Russian and Ukrainian girls in Berlin, Germany. AP

Colombian street artist Arte Vilu works on a mural featuring a Ukrainian woman in traditional dress in Berlin, Germany. AP

Lidiya Zhuravlyova, an Ukrainian performance artist, takes part in an anti-war protest in Bangkok, Thailand. Reuters