Ever since the Russian invasion in Ukraine, hundreds and thousands of people, including Indians, have been misplaced. While India is making every effort to rescue stranded Indians, including students, from the war-torn country, thousands remain clinging on to the hope of rescue. Among those is a critically-injured Indian student hailing from Delhi, who is appealing for help from the hospital bed after surviving grievous bullet injuries.
Harjot Singh, an Indian student stranded in Ukraine capital Kyiv, tried to escape in a cab last week, but got struck by a tragedy. Being unable to cross the border, Singh was returning to the city when bullets rained on his cab. Three bullets hit Singh, leaving him unconscious on the road, wounded and bleeding for several hours.
According to NDTV, an ambulance found Singh and took him to the hospital. One bullet had pierced his chest, another one hit the shoulder and one hit the knee. The doctors at Kyiv City hospital took out the bullets from his chest and knee, but he remains immobilised, recovering from his injuries.
Singh described his video call with his mother after being shot.
"Mothers will be mothers, you know. When I was hit, I prayed to Waheguru-ji to give me a new life, for my mother. I told my mother I got a new life because of you. My family could not stop weeping. I saw my father crying for the first time in my life," he recalled.
Calls to embassy yield no results
Singh is eager to be rescued, get out of Ukraine and back to his family and home in Delhi. But he said no one from the embassy contacted him. He has been hospitalised just 20 minutes from the Indian embassy since Sunday.
"I contacted the embassy people and asked if they can provide the facility to take me to Lviv. They kept asking me questions. I had to repeat my story several times. I can't walk. I told them I can come out of the hospital, but they have to give me the facilities, they should take me to Lviv. But all I get is fake comments," he said in an emotional video, braving the pain and emotions.
Harjot's family urged the government to evacuate him to Delhi as fast as possible for further treatment. Singh also said that many, like him, are trapped in Kyiv.
"Many have shut themselves in their homes, they don't know what is happening. I have been continuously trying to speak to the Embassy. But our Embassy has already left for Lviv, even before us. The embassy is supposed to stay and help students," he said.
