He told me ‘you go ahead’, says Kanpur girl separated from brother while fleeing Ukraine

Medical student Akshara Kumar safely returned home to Kanpur on Sunday evening. But concern for her brother, who was separated from her at Kharkiv railway station in Ukraine, is weighing heavy on her mind.

For Akshara Kumar, it was a bittersweet homecoming. The Kanpur girl had travelled all the way to Kharkiv, Ukraine to study to become a doctor. Far away from home, her brother Aarav, who was there with her, was a source of comfort. But when she returned to India fleeing the war, her brother was not by her side.

“My brother and friends are still stuck there. He [Aarav] made me board the train but could not make it himself. He told me ‘you go ahead, I’ll make it somehow’. And I lost his hand in the crowd as the firing started,” Akshara told India Today on her return to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday evening.

The brother and sister were separated as chaotic scenes played out at the Kharkiv railway station. Right before they were going to board a train, shots were fired and those trying to flee on trains were baton-charged.

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“There was stampede and firing, if the incident had not happened then my brother would have been here with me,” rued the young girl.

While relieved to have escaped the Russian invasion of Ukraine, concern for her brother is weighing heavy on Akshara’s mind. “He will either go to Armenia or Hungary, though I am not sure of that,” she added.

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