Day of terror for UAE-based students in Ukraine as they flee explosions at Kiev airport

Indian students anxious as ATMs run out of cash and they run low on funds for food

Sanabil SP, right, with Haneen Kuniyil, medical students in Ukraine at a bus station where they took shelter after explosions rocked Kiev airport. The students were booked to travel to Abu Dhabi when bombs hit the airport at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. Photo: Sanabil SPShow less

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Scores of Indian students fleeing Ukraine for their families in the UAE and home country were terrified when bombs went off at Kiev airport on Thursday, forcing them to leave the airport.

They heard Ukrainians shout out warnings: “The Russians are invading,” as passengers ran out amid loud explosions.

People were shouting: ‘Russia is invading’. Everyone panicked

Milin Susan Joseph,
medical student

Many students had booked flights home but their plans were shattered when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military assault on Ukraine.

After fleeing Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport, a group of 35 waited for more than 11 hours at a bus shelter trying to find safe accommodation.

“When I heard the blast I was too scared. People were shouting: ‘Russia is invading’. We saw jets flying above. People ran out of the airport,” said Milin Susan Joseph, 23, a fourth-year medical student who had a flight booked to Trivandrum, India.

Dubai resident Mohammed Adil Javad was on one of the last flights to leave Ukraine. The medical student landed in Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning before the attack on Ukraine began. Photo: Mohammed Adil Javad

“Everyone panicked. We just got more and more scared. We didn’t know where to go. We saw six to seven buses outside the airport and we just got in.”

The students took shelter at a nearby bus station with dozens of other travellers.

Many students had travelled the night before for about eight hours by road from Zaporizhzhia State Medical University to Kiev airport.

“We will try to get back to the university. We don’t know how safe it is to travel because people are being told to stay home,” Ms Joseph told The National.

The sight of armoured vehicles and soldiers on the streets has added to their anxiety.

“We can see tanks and military vehicles on the roads. Everyone is scared out of hell,” said Sanabil SP, 23, also a fourth-year student who was booked on a flight to his family’s home in Abu Dhabi.

“We heard two blasts as we were reaching the airport. People began rushing out of the airport. They were saying that the Russians had invaded.”

A Ukrainian soldier walks past the shell of a burnt military vehicle, on a street in Kiev. AP

A screengrab from CCTV footage shows a missile hitting a residential building in Kiev. Reuters

A man inspects a broken window, after shelling carried out by Russian troops in the Ukrainian capital. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military centre as two cars burn on a street in Kiev. AP

Medical specialists transport a woman, who was wounded in the shelling of an apartment building, to an ambulance, as her husband looks on. Reuters

A woman outside her apartment building after it was damaged by a rocket, in Kiev. AP

A Ukrainian police officer detains a driver on a street in Kiev. AP

A soldier's helmet with a bullet hole on a street in the Ukrainian capital. AP

Ukrainian soldiers walk by a damaged vehicle, at the site of fighting with Russian troops, in Kiev. Reuters

Ukrainian policemen move parrots to safety after a high-rise apartment block was damaged by shelling in Kiev. EPA

A screengrab from a video shows rescue workers carrying a person at the site of a damaged multi-storey residential building, south-west of the Ukrainian capital. Reuters

A building damaged by shelling carried out by Russian troops in Kiev. EPA

Helga Tarasova comforts her daughter Kira Shapovalova as they wait in an underground shelter during a bombing alert in Kiev. AFP

A man walks past a building damaged by a rocket attack in the Ukrainian capital. AP

Emergency services workers near an apartment building damaged by shelling in Kiev. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers collect unexploded shells in the capital. AFP

An apartment building damaged by shelling in Kiev. Reuters

Debris of a burnt military truck on a street in Kiev. AP

Natali Sevriukova stands next to her home after a rocket attack in Kiev, Ukraine. AP

People on foot and in cars move to cross from Ukraine to Poland at the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Servicemen from the Ukrainian National Guard in central Kiev. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers in downtown Kiev after Russian troops reached the outskirts of the capital. AP Photo

Police officers detain demonstrators in St. Petersburg, Russia. Hundreds of people gathered in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Thursday, protesting against Russia's attack on Ukraine. Similar protests took place in other Russian cities, and activists were also arrested. AP Photo

Hungarian troops in Vasarosnameny, close to the border with Ukraine, prepare to help refugees. AP Photo

Wrecked Russian army rocket launchers in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters

The aftermath of a rocket attack in Kiev. AP Photo

A US Air Force jet refuels over Poland. Reuters

Devastation after shelling in Ukraine's Luhansk enclave. Reuters

The Royal Welsh Battlegroup from the UK makes its way to Estonia. Reuters

Firefighters tackle a blaze in a building in Kiev. AFP

The wreckage of an unidentified aircraft in a residential area in Kiev. Reuters

Smoke rises near the Ukrainian Defence Ministry in Kiev. Reuters

Russian military helicopters fly over the Ukrainian capital. AP

An anxious wait to board a train to leave Kiev as the attack loomed. AP Photo

Ukrainian servicemen on tanks in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. AP Photo

Ukraine troops said this destroyed armoured vehicle outside Kharkiv belonged to the Russian army. Reuters

Rescuers at the crash site after a Ukraine armed forces Antonov aircraft was shot down in Kiev, according to the Ukrainian authorities. Reuters

Ukrainian tanks that aim to repel an attack by the Russian military in the Luhansk enclave of Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian State Border Guard Service base is ablaze after heavy shelling near Kiev. Reuters

Damaged radar at a Ukrainian military plant outside Mariupol. Officials in Kiev say Russian troops have rolled into the country from the north, east and south. AP Photo

Firefighters attend a blaze after bombing in the eastern Ukrainian town of Chuguiv, as Russian armed forces appeared to be bombarding Ukraine from several directions. AFP

A traffic jam in Kiev, with many Ukrainians leaving their capital after Russian troops entered. EPA

The Border Service of Ukraine released CCTV footage purporting to show Russian military vehicles passing a checkpoint to drive into Crimea. AP

A man picks up fragments of military materiel on the street after an apparent Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Workers load the debris of a rocket on to a lorry in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kiev. AP

Emergency staff treat an injured man after bombing in Chuguiv. AFP

An American woman in distress after crossing the border to flee the violence in Ukraine, in Medyka, Poland. Reuters

People take shelter in a Kiev subway station, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Reuters

People in a rush near Kiev-Pasazhyrskyi railway station in the Ukrainian capital. AFP

A Flightradar24.com screengrab shows a dearth of civilian aircraft in Ukrainian airspace after the Russian invasion. AP

The aftermath of bombing in Chuguiv. AFP

A Ukrainian rocket launcher vehicle prepares for action. Reuters

Cars are driven across a field to leave the city of Kharkiv. Reuters

People chant, carry placards and wave Ukrainian flags as they gather in Sydney, to demonstrate against Russian attacks on its neighbour. AP

People with many of their belongings packed take shelter in a Metro station in Kiev. AFP

Emergency services at the scene of an explosion at a military unit building in Kiev. EPA

A Kiev resident sweeps up debris after Russian shelling. AP

The first 40 soldiers of the 173rd US Army Airborne Brigade step off a military plane in Latvia. EPA

More damage from shelling in Kiev. AP

People wait at a bus station to travel to western parts of Ukraine, after violence in the east. Reuters

A woman carries her cats in a quest for a safe haven. AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds an urgent government meeting in Kiev to discuss the next step. AFP

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and foreign policy chief Josep Borrell give a joint statement in Brussels, updating the press about the situation in Ukraine. EPA

People survey the damage after bombing in Chuguiv. AFP

A building on fire in Chuguiv. AFP

Another concern is access to money, because ATMs at the bus station ran out of cash. One group managed to reach the Indian embassy but were told they would need to make their own arrangements.

“The situation is real and scary for us. I really want people to know that we need help getting to a safe place,” said Mr Sanabil. “There is no money in the ATMs. You need money even to go to the public washrooms.

“The [Indian] embassy said they don’t have space for 30 students but we need help to find a safe place nearby.”

By evening, they managed to contact other students living in universities in Kiev and hope to find shelter in dormitories.

Some took the last flight out of Ukraine before the air space was shut down and have reached the UAE.

“I’m safe now but half of me is still there [in Ukraine] because that is where my friends are,” said Mohammed Adil Javad, who landed in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, before the attack began.

“I’m hoping India will start an evacuation of students. They need help.

“There are students stuck between Zaporizhzhia and Kiev. They are in the middle of nowhere – not in the university and not at the airport. They are being told to find bomb shelters and tunnels for safety. We are all tense.”

About 18,000 Indian students are in Ukraine, according to government figures.

The embassy last week asked them to leave the country temporarily until the situation returned to normal.

But students said exorbitant air fares – more than 60,000 rupees ($792) one-way to India – and the absence of a clear message to evacuate meant that thousands remain in Ukraine.

“We would all left much before if we had been told we must leave immediately,” Mr Javad said.

“Also how can thousands of students leave in a few days? There are just not enough flights.”

The embassy said it was making arrangements for accommodation for students and asked them to familiarise themselves with the locations of bomb shelters.

“While the mission is identifying possible solution to the situation, please be aware of your surroundings, be safe, do not leave your homes unless necessary and carry your documents with you at all times,” the mission said.

Protests across Europe as Russia invades Ukraine - in pictures

A woman holds a placard during a protest against Russia's military operation in Ukraine, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. EPA

People carry Ukrainian flags and signs reading 'Stop War' and 'Stop Russia' as they protest at the Russian embassy in the Hague, the Netherlands. EPA

Ukrainians hold a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine outside Downing Street in London. PA

A woman takes part in an anti-war protest in front of the Russian embassy in Paris. AFP

Demonstrators in front of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna. AFP

A protest outside the Russian embassy in the Netherlands. AFP

People wear the Ukrainian national flag during a protest in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. EPA

A woman holds a placard as people protest outside the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Madrid, Spain. EPA

Ukrainian citizens protest in front of the Russian embassy in Paris. AFP

Demonstrators with Ukrainian flags in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. AFP

A protest against Russia's military operation in Ukraine outside the Russian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. EPA

A demonstrator in front of the German Chancellery in Berlin. AFP